Usage fee set for new stage at public park

With work nearing completion on the new performing arts stage at Citizen’s Lodge, Jackson County Commissioners set the fee for its use.

It will cost $215 to rent the stage for a 24-hour period, the same amount it costs to rent the lodge itself.

A fee of $250 was first proposed, but the total was reduced after commissioner Dr. Willie Spires on Tuesday questioned how the county could justify charging more for a simple stage than for the use of a building that had running water, a kitchen, bathrooms and other amenities.

The county hopes the fee will be “low enough to be attractive but high enough to generate income,” said county Parks and Recreation Director Chuck Hatcher.