Cherryville Historical Museum Hangs in the Balance

By: Grace Smith – Wise News Network

CHERRYVILLE, NC (WNN) – The City of Cherryville may lose its landmark museum located on East Main Street. A notice of nonrenewal was posted to the front door of the Cherryville Historical Museum. The letter informed the Cherryville Historical Association that its lease ends on Dec. 31, 2023. 

In February, the city announced its intention to sell the museum building. Patrick O’Leary, the investor of Cherryville Main Street, LLC, submitted a bid of $400,000. The city recently approved this bid.

After approving the bid, the Cherryville Historical Association filed a lawsuit against the City Council. Al Putnam, president of the Historical Association, said they are suing for adverse possession. 

“The purpose of the lawsuit is to preserve the building that we’re in. This was the original city hall built in 1911. It was the police department. It was the fire department. It was the clerk of court. It was the magistrate.” said Putnam. 

Adverse possession is a staple of real estate law where a tenant may be able to claim ownership of a piece of land after a certain period of time. The Cherryville Historical Museum has occupied the building on East Main Street since the 1980s.

Adverse possession for governmental property does not have legal precedence, but rulings will vary by jurisdiction.  

The Cherryville City Council has requested the dismissal of the case. According to an email, the city council is represented by League of Municipalities attorney Patrick Flannigan. 

Contention between the Historical Board and the City Council arose from the validity of the lease. The Historical Association claims not to hold a lease with the city, while the city refutes that statement. A signed lease has not been presented by either side. 

“We don’t have a lease, so how can you not re-renew a lease if you don’t have a lease.” said Putnam. 

The first court hearing of the lawsuit will take place on Sept. 5, 2023. While the case is pending, the Historical Association has discussed plans for relocating the artifacts. 

“We will make plans to actually store the contents in this building down to the bare brick walls to be able to take care of preserving the Cherryville history,” Putnam says, “It’s in our charter to preserve and archive and take care of the history of the township.” 

The Historical Association met on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023, to discuss potential options for the future. According to the association, a professional moving company that specializes in historical artifacts will move the contents of the museum. They also discussed the possibility of relocating the Cherryville Historical Museum entirely. 

“If we find another location, whether it’s in Cherryville or whether it’s in Shelby or Lincolnton, we’ll open the building with those artifacts. Now, if we can’t find a building or we can’t put programs together, everything will go into secured climate controlled storage.” said Putnam. 

Putnam said that the Historical Association owns the artifacts in the museum, but the verbiage in the lawsuit requests that the court award the assets of the collection to the Cherryville Historical Association. 

“Furthermore, The Association request [they] award the ownership of all assets of the collection along with physical displays that have been built upon the property.” Putnam wrote in the lawsuit. 

Putnam stated that this clause in the lawsuit refers to artifacts built into the physical building, such as the jail cell door. 

Mounting tensions between the Historical Association and the Town Council led to a Facebook post that published notice of nonrenewal on Aug. 18, 2023. 

Gregory Payseur, a member of the Cherryville Historical Association, made the post public with the caption, “The Cherryville Historical Museum Board is no longer welcome in the Old City Hall Building after Dec. 31, 2023.” In the comment section, citizens of Cherryville took to Facebook to express their grievances. 

The Wise News Team reached out to the City Council and a former member of the Historical Association for a comment. Due to ongoing litigation the City Council declined. The former Association member also declined to comment. 

The future of the Cherryville Historical Museum remains unsure as legal proceedings progress. 

This is a developing story, check back with updates.

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