Lake Lure begins refilling lake, aiming for re-opening by Memorial Day

The Town of Lake Lure announced on Friday, Feb. 6, that it is starting to refill the lake. Mayor Carol Pritchett says getting the lake filled up by Memorial Day is essential to the town’s economy. Tom Halladay, owner of Fae Nectar, a Celtic eatery and entertainment venue that sits next to the lake, says he's excited and eagerly awaiting the refill. "What once was a pristine view has been a construction zone for the past year and a half. Between that and the road closures and the lake not being open, we’re down 60 to 80% year on year, so we’re really hanging on until the spring and summer," Halladay said. The Memorial Day reopening goal is essential to the town's tourism economy, especially since Helene. "So many of our small business owners who both have lodging, hotels, bed and breakfast, restaurants, things like that, they’ve made reservations with people for this memorial day, they needed to be able to know with confidence so that they can tell the people that they made reservations for, that it was going to be open," Pritchett said. Mayor Pritchett says the lake level cannot be raised by more than one foot per day for safety reasons. Pritchett says that progress will depend heavily on rainfall and weather conditions. Alyssa Blair, who visited Lake Lure from Charlotte, told News 13 she was filled with hope after learning Lake Lure is getting refilled. "I can’t wait for the lake to open. I would love to come back in the summer, and get out on the water, and do some hiking on the trails, and things like the flowering bridge be restored. I can’t wait for it to be back in its full glory," Blair said. #lakelure #tourism #economy MORE: https://wlos.com/news/local/lake-lure... _______________ Follow WLOS on social media: WLOS ABC 13 News on Facebook:   / news13   WLOS ABC 13 News on X: https://x.com/WLOS_13 WLOS ABC 13 News on Instagram:   / wlos_13   Subscribe to WLOS on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ABC13Cha... For all of the day’s top local and national news, visit www.wlos.com Stream our newscasts LIVE: www.wlos.com/watch Have a news tip? Send it directly to us: Email us: [email protected] Call the Newsroom: 828.684.1340 -- WLOS ABC 13 News serves the Asheville, NC area and the rest of western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. We keep our audience informed through local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of community events, sports and entertainment programming since 1954. This video and all Sinclair Broadcast Group content archives of local news and sports coverage are available for your use. For more information contact us at [email protected]