After more than a decade of work, the McElroy Hoye House in Newton is finally open to the public.
Officials and community members celebrated Thursday the grand opening of the home that is listed on the state’s list of historic places in 2006. The home was moved from a now vacant lot adjacent to Newton First Baptist Church to its current location across the street from Newton First Baptist.
Prior to the blessing, the Rev. Jerry Mixon, retired pastor of Newton FBC, said the church sold the house to the Newton Historical Cultural Commission for $1.
“We never received that one dollar,” Mixon joked, as Sen. Terry Burton handed him a $1 bill from his pocket.
Later, however, Dorothy Turnage, president of the commission, said she still has the cancelled $1 check in her comprehensive file on the whole project. Turnage said the commission has worked since 2002 to make this day happen.
It wasn’t until 2006 when the commission purchased the house and then moved the house down a few hundred feet from its original location in 2009. She said the community has worked hard to make the restoration a reality.
“You have also helped us with donations and your spirit of pushing us,” Turnage said.
Mayor Murray Weems said a lot of work has gone into this project to make it a beautiful building the city can be proud of.
“A lot of sweat has gone into this,” Weems said. “As she said, a lot of donations have been made to help make this happen. Once again, it’s a great place to have here in the City of Newton. And we thank you for your hard work.”
Burton said this is the perfect example of partnership, as local, state and federal governments worked with private citizens to help get the project off the ground.”
“Dorothy Turnage is amazing,” Burton said. “When she taught me in fourth grade at Newton Elementary, I knew then that we had a special lady… We do know how hard she has worked from the get-go. We know it’s taken us a lot longer than we wanted it to, but here we are, we got it done. And we are going to have so many cultural and educational opportunities in this house and on this property.”
Following the ribbon cutting by the Newton Chamber of Commerce, guests walked through the house to take a tour of the home.
The McElroy Hoye House will be an arts and cultural center along with a museum. Each quarter, the art gallery within the house will be transformed to a different time period with collections, antique items, artifacts and local history. The house will also be open to hosting weddings, dinner parties, receptions, birthday occasions and other events.
