Removal of “unsafe” Joyner Park tobacco barn set to begin Tuesday

Town crews will remove the tobacco barn at E. Carroll Joyner Park, 701 Harris Road, this week due to a litany of safety issues, including a crumbling foundation, that make the building “structurally unstable.”

During the September 20 Board of Commissioners meeting, Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources (PRCR) Director Ruben Wall informed the Board that the barn has experienced a steady decline in recent years due to its age and termites. An inspection following a recent storm, however, determined the structure to be “unsafe” and “not salvageable.”

As a result, beginning Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 7:30 a.m. and continuing through the end of the week, crews will dismantle the structure and haul it away. Park visitors are advised that dump trucks will be entering and exiting the site regularly throughout this process.

In the meantime, crews have cordoned off an area around the tobacco barn, as well as portions of the Walker Garden, performance gardens, and amphitheater. This area, along with walking trails in the vicinity, will remain off limits until the demolition is complete.

The tobacco barn has been a popular Joyner Park attraction, particularly for photographers, since the park’s opening in 2009. Wall said his department is working with Senior Planner for Historic Preservation Michelle Michael to try and locate a replacement structure. For more information, contact PRCR Director Ruben Wall at [email protected].