Evening star., 1946-03-03
By Bill Shorpe

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The Tennessee Valley Authority
feeling 1t has the best man-mads
show in EasternAmerica in its new
Fontana Dam, last of its mammoth
projects, is getting ready to helr
the 100000 tourists 1t expects tx
pour into its sightseeing cutouts
It recently announced plans to IA.
cilitate sightseeing as one OF tn.
major by-products Of its handiwork
What the IVA has to show /.
the fourth highest dam in the world
45l feet of concrete and steel which
impounds mountain waters in a lakt
which has Shoreline of 2l5 miles
and transforms the mountains ol
the Nantahala River course into
scenes of aquatic interest.
Most OF the shoreline will be &C.
cessible, but swimmers will fare
hard, not only because of the waite,
temperature which will be that o1
the usual mountain spring, colder
than gee-whiz, but also because OF
the 117-foot fluctuation in water
levels Of the impounded waters when
the control spillways are In opera
ton.
But that does not mean that boat
ing will be greatly affected, and the
Authority intends that inland
sailors and fishermen shall have
every facility. Piers and landing
platforms are planned for the vi
cinity of the new visitors building
plans for which were recently made
known.
+ ::
The new building, to be ample
to take care of all the visitors to
Fontana,' will be an overlook affair
perched on the fronting bluff, look
ing west at the Fontana project 1t
will provide comforts for the over
day visitor while those who plan to
spend a day, or week, or month
or season eventually will find ac-
commodations in the village below
where were housed the workers and
planners while Fontana was going
up.
The newest accommodation for
tourists. and it is in the stage now
where blueprint Is being translated
into steel and wood, is the cable
car up and down the east abut-
ment, for people who want to see
the powerhouse. first attraction
after the general gasping at the
immensity of Fontana's frontal per-
spective. The cable car will con.
meet the powerhouse and the road
way level. and a small fee will be
charged for the trip to witness, at
first hand, the Transforming OF
water into electricity.
Five years ago the dam site was
a wilderness, close to nowhere at
all, insofar as ground travel is con-
cerned, and 20 air miles west OF
Bryson City-and those air miles oi
no use at all unless one were a
crow or an eagle and could land in
treetop. The folks around Deals
Gap, 7 miles from the State
border, got down once in a while
on foot or by muleback, but out
landers seldom went in without
guides, and had to be sure kinsfolk
or good friends were at the end of
the trail.
But now the ordinary tourist,
after reaching Bryson City, will
! find State highway gravel and
topsoil, N. C. 2S8, all the way into
Fontana. Or, better yet. to get the
feel of the place and to realize the
magnitude of the project, as we'll
as to take in some of the most
magnificent scenery in Western
North Carolina, he may take a
| paved road south to Topton and
west to Deals Gap, U. S. l29, from
which the road is the western end
Of the gravel and topsoil N c. 238
east to Fontana.
This swing around the dams
will afford stopover at the Nanta-
hala center, and above Robbinsville
Lake Santeetlah, and Hangover
Mountain. real test, as its name
indicates, for hardy mountain climb
ers. All this trail is around the
, 5,000-foot elevation mark.
| Most hopeful of all the improve
ments for showing the baby OF Fon-
tana" is the conversion of the viii