SALISBURY — Rowan County hosted a ribbon cutting for the newly-renovated Rowan Community Center on Thursday morning, opening up the center that board of commissioners Chairman Greg Edds called the perfect picture of the community over the last 10 years.

“Planning, designing, coordinating, dreaming, deconstructing, rebuilding, modernizing, investing, prioritizing and now, today celebrating. This is a great occasion, not just for the center itself, but for all of us who believe in the power of connection, innovation and opportunity,” said Edds.

The center was formerly the Salisbury Mall before being bought by the county in 2013 for approximately $3.4 million. The county renamed it to the West End Plaza and began to renovate the building in order to fit county offices, local nonprofits and the events center.

“This investment in the future of our community will not only attract statewide events, but will also serve as a space for local organizations, educators, nonprofits and community groups to host their own local, regional, state and even national events. As we prepare today to cut the ribbon, let’s remember this is just a beginning. This is not simply an opening of a building, but its a new chapter in our agricultural and community journey,” said Edds.

The county has already begun plans to construct a new health department center and an agriculture center.

“The new agriculture center shows our commitment to our valued farmers who are the lifeblood of our communities. They feed us, they sustain us in our livelihoods and help preserve our way of life. This facility moves several agencies into one location to provide service to our farmers, including the Cooperative Extension, Forestry, Soil and Water and, in the near future, the United States Department of Agriculture,” said Edds.

Following Edds’ remarks, the members of the Rowan County Board of Commissioners, sans Craig Pierce who was unable to make it, along with county employees and retired Parks and Recreation Director Don Bringle cut the ribbon, opening the RCC.

After the event, Interim Commissioner Daniel Lancaster said that he viewed the RCC as proof of the county’s commitment to its community. Lancaster said that he had many students from outside the county attend his law enforcement training at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, and he said it was nice to be able to show off developments such as the RCC as reasons for the students to move to Rowan County.

“Being a business-owner and professor, I’ve watched this and this steps us up into a new class (with) what we’ll be able to do, bigger seminars, bigger state events, bigger conferences,” said Lancaster, who was appointed to the board in early March.