Teapot museum would revive sleepy town

By Bob Bamberg

He stuck his head in my office and asked if I had a minute to discuss something important.

“Bob, you need to get the word out about the teapot museum,” the local businessman implored.

“What word?” I asked.

“This is going to be big,” he replied.

I knew what he meant. This was about the third such conversation I’ve had in the past month. All of these individuals recounted an experience similar to my own. When we first heard about plans to build a museum in our little Sparta, to display teapots donated by a California couple, we imagined some nondescript teapot in our past, and a small inner voice asked, “People are going to flock to Sparta to see what?”

But later, we saw some of the teapot creations by noted artists, and we were intrigued. Then we read the reviews of “The Artful Teapot,” a small part of the Kamm collection that was touring museums in the United States and Canada. The Gardiner Museum in Toronto reported that its attendance more than doubled for the collection. The Long Beach Museum of Art reported that the collection set its all-time attendance record.

Last spring, several busloads of locals traveled to Charlotte’s Mint Museum to see the Kamm collection on that tour. The collection had just the right mix of uniqueness and familiarity to grab attention. And, as the only such museum not just in this country, but also in the world, it would attract crowds, big crowds.

When I moved up the mountain 24 years ago, I was drawn to Sparta because of its distinctive non-tourism culture. Its economy of small family farms and light manufacturing and the down-to-earth quality of the people reminded me of the small town of my youth.

But as I settled in, the death of the family farm was already accelerating for a host of reasons beyond local control. And with the coming of the new millennium, the manufacturing decline that had swept North Carolina and the country found our community. Within a short time, a third of our nonfarm jobs disappeared.

Despair walked Sparta’s streets and was evidenced by empty storefronts. I reasoned that tourism might be the only avenue for a thriving economy. But for Sparta to be anything more than a sleepy mountain village, it needed something that set it apart in the minds of travelers. It needed an attraction.

The coming together of Sparta and Sonny and Gloria Kamm, the almost over-the-top collectors of unusual teapots, seemed too coincidental to be just serendipity. A museum that showcased this unusual collection could drive visitors to our county and the northwest region. It would be our engine for a revived economy.

The Sparta Teapot Museum project was fortunate to receive a $400,000 appropriation in the recently passed state budget. That figure amounts to about 4 percent of the total this small community hopes to raise. While I was concerned when I read the disparaging remarks by some legislators about the appropriation, I understood where they were coming from. I was no less incredulous when the project was first proposed.

The Senate district that Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, represents used to include our county. I remember him as a conscientious legislator. I wish we had remained in his district long enough to present the museum plans to him. I think he would have experienced a similar journey to an understanding of its potential and would have become a strong supporter.

Phil, you have an open invitation to visit Sparta. We’ll share our plans over a pot of tea.

The first step of economic revitalization is hope, and hope is already having an impact here. Today there is no teapot display in Sparta to attract visitors, yet all but a couple of those empty storefronts are now filled. Seventy-five percent of those new businesses cited the museum as a factor in the decision to open.

I know I speak for a large number of local residents in expressing appreciation for the legislature’s investment in that hope.

(This article was taken from journalnow.com and Bob Bamberg is the director of the Alleghany County Chamber of Commerce)