Tourist Kiosk on South Trade St 

By Samuel Robinson 

Sam.robinson@tryondailybulletin.com 

 

TRYON—The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Partnership (BRNHA) has awarded 19 grants across the North Carolina Mountains and foothills that focus on music, natural heritage, craft, Cherokee culture, and agriculture. The Nina Simone Project, founded and led by Dr. Crys Armbrust, is one of those recipients.  

 

Executive Director Angie Chandler of BRNHA said the grants will support community projects across western North Carolina.   

 

“By spotlighting our cultural traditions and natural wonders, we help sustain these assets, build community pride, draw more visitors, and grow the regional economy,” Chandler said.  

 

The Eunice Waymon Nina Simone Memorial Project has received $5,000 from the BRNHA to help introduce an interactive kiosk at the Nina Simone Plaza that will allow visitors to obtain more information about the Tryon native and her life. The kiosk will feature a 55–inch touch screen and a graphic wrap with fade-resistant ink and Lexan lamination to display the donors that helped make the kiosk possible. 

 

The outdoor unit is wholly interactive with visitors being able to play selections of  Simone’s music, see short videos of her, and give a short history lesson on North Carolina music and American popular music.  

 

“At the secondary level visitors can connect with the BRNHA which is a U.S. national park and with the Blue Ridge Music trails of NC. The Nina Simone Plaza is both a BRNH site and Blue Ridge Music Trail site,” Armbrust said.  

 

 “The original grant request for the total project was $32,000. The grant request to BRNHA was for $16,000 because the grant is a dollar-for-dollar match. BRNHA had so many grant requests this year that we received a partial grant of $5,000,” said Armbrust.   

 

Through diligence and perseverance Armbrust raised the majority of the money in under a week.  

“In five days, including the $5,000 from BRNHA, I raised $30,000 for the project,” he said.  

 

Armbrust said he would like to thank the organizations that have donated so far, including The Lucky One foundation of The Bessemer Trust ($18,000), BRNHA ($5,000), New View Realty ($5,000), and Meridian Kiosk Corporation who donated $5,000 towards the cost of production for the kiosk unit that they will be making. 

The Nina Simone Project and Armbrust are still searching for donors.  

“We are still looking for donors to help us reach the $32,000 goal, and there will be permanent corporate branding as part of the donation in the graphic wrap,” Armbrust said.  

 

Donations can be made through the website project website, https://ninasimoneproject.org, or make checks payable to: Nina Simone Project and Mail to c/o Dr. Crys Armbrust 301 N. Trade Street, Tryon, N.C. 28782. For more information about corporate sponsorship contact, tryonarmbrust@gmail.com.