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By VIKKI BROUGHTON HODGES
The Dispatch
Several hundred people turned out Thursday afternoon for the grand opening of the Childress Vineyards winery, Lexington's newest tourist destination and the largest winery in the Yadkin Valley.
From the contractors and local government officials to his staff and family, winery owner Richard Childress, president of Richard Childress Racing Enterprises in Welcome, thanked everyone who helped put the project on a fast track to completion within the past year. The winery opened a month ago, but Thursday's celebration marked its formal dedication.
Noting it was Veterans Day, Childress also thanked U.S. troops fighting in Iraq and had a friend of his, Gen. Thomas Sadler, speak. The NASCAR team owner has traveled twice to Iraq to visit troops.
Mayor Richard Thomas said the winery opening "marks a new era for Lexington and Davidson County. It's a whole new business for us."
Radford Thomas, executive director of the Lexington Area Chamber of Commerce, which promotes local tourism efforts through a contract with the Lexington Tourism Authority, called the winery "a tremendous plus" that should bring more tourists who will spend the night here and visit other attractions such as the Bob Timberlake Gallery and uptown Lexington.
Ben Ross, executive director of Davidson Vision, said the winery should raise expectations for other local tourism development efforts.
"So much thought and energy has been put into this to make it first class - it takes us to another level," Ross said. "It really raises the bar for what we do here on out."
In his remarks, Childress singled out the winery's general contractor, Samet Construction of Greensboro, for the firm's dedication to completing the project by October.
Paul Faistl, project manager for Samet, said the building, designed to look like a villa in Tuscany, is the first winery Samet has done and presented challenges because of its elaborate design.
"What was challenging was the amount of detail - the finishes, the millwork, the finish carpentry, the stone work and metal work," he said of the mixed use of materials inside and out. "It's something we're very proud of."
Faistl said there were probably about 250 people working on the project over the past year it took to build the winery, with 95 percent of them from the Triad.
"On any given day we had about 100 people on the job site," he said, noting that carpenters, plumbers, electricians and other construction workers were on the job seven days a week.
A Lexington subcontractor, J&S Exteriors, was on the job for three months doing the exterior stucco and stone facade of the 36,000-square-foot winery.
"We averaged 12 to 15 people there, seven days a week, from sunup to sundown," said Johnny Yarbrough, owner of J&S Exteriors, as he described the pace of the job. "I think it turned out awesome."
Greg Johns, Childress' business partner in the winery, had his crew from Johns Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning in Greensboro working on the project as well. He said local subcontractors did the concrete and welding work, too. Lexington artist Chip Holton painted several murals in the building.
"I think we're going to be a huge place of destination," Johns said, noting that vanloads of visitors from Triad retirement communities and churches are an almost daily occurrence. The N.C. School Boards Association is having a dinner in the large banquet room next week, he noted. Also next week, Clear Channel radio stations in the area will be holding their "Single Mingle" event at the winery.
"We're also planning to do a concert series in the spring," he said, noting that the music will likely be a jazz series.
Johns said the winery's banquet facilities are already booked for many Christmas parties and corporate functions as well as many weddings. With many people attending such functions from out of town, Johns said they are working hard to close a deal for a new hotel to be built on part of the 15 acres adjoining the winery and vineyards. Johns said the remainder of the property will eventually be developed for a restaurant and retail/office space. A national restaurant chain has expressed interest in the property, as have individual retailers.
Johns said a couple of national hotel chains are talking with them now about building a hotel adjacent to the winery that would be constructed in the same style.
"We hope we can announce something within the next 60 days," he said. "We would be looking at something like a $3 to $5 million investment."
With the Childress Vineyards winery at the southern point of a proposed Yadkin Valley wine trail, Johns said he could foresee tourists staying in Lexington and making day trips north of here to other wineries in the region.
"A wine trail would be good for us as well as all the other wineries," he said, noting that the number of wineries in the state has doubled to about 40 since 2000.
Vikki Broughton Hodges can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 214, or vikki.hodges@the-dispatch.com.
Copyright 2004 The Dispatch
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