North Carolina golf course granted $1.6 million from tourism fund

The city of Asheville, North Carolina, was the big winner in Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority grant funding announced Oct. 26, with nearly $6.5 million allocated toward four projects.

The grants include $1.6 million for the revitalization of the Donald Ross-designed Asheville Municipal Golf Course.

The allocations come through the TDA’s Tourism Product Development Fund. The TDA board approved over $9 million in new investments in 10 community projects, and that comes in addition to $6.64 million the board approved at its August meeting.

For the 2022 cycle, the total investments come to $15.68 million, the most in 20 years the Tourism Product Development Fund has existed.

By law, the TDA must allocate two-thirds of its revenues, which primarily come from the local occupancy tax on hotels, vacation rentals and bed and breakfast inns, to advertising and marketing. The remaining one-third goes to the TPDF, which funds projects that are likely to extend tourists’ stays but also benefit the local community.

While the TDA and the grant fund now operate under the two-thirds/one-third model, the funding for this year’s grant cycle collected under previous legislation that mandated the TPDF get 25 percent of the occupancy tax, while 75 percent went to marketing and advertising.

The TDA’s budget is listed as $46 million in Buncombe County’s budget line items. In March, the authority adopted a $40.8 million “revenue objective” for the current fiscal year, which runs through June 2023.

Since the TPDF fund was created, the TDA has allocated almost $60 million to 46 community tourism projects, according to the release.

The TDA notes that, “Grant applicants are required to provide matching funds when applying for projects.” This grant cycle had two phases involving written applications, presentations, and project site visits.

Here’s the list of projects funded in the 2022 cycle:

• Swannanoa River Greenway: $2.3M. City of Asheville project.
• Coxe Avenue/Green Street project: $1.95M. City of Asheville project.
• Asheville Municipal Golf Course revitalization, phase I: $1.64M. City of Asheville project.
• WNC Nature Center, Gateway to the Southern Appalachians Enhancement: $567,000. City of Asheville project.
• UNC Asheville Karl Straus Track, renovation and expansion: $1.5M. UNC Asheville Foundation project.
• Karen Cragnolin Park, greenway phase: $360,790. RiverLink Inc. project.
• Glass Center in Black Mountain: $330,000. North Carolina Glass…