Briar Chapel Middle School May Benefit from Federal Stimulus Package

Congressman Bob Etheridge met with Chatham County and school officials recently to discuss the money that the state will receive from the federal stimulus package. A number of local projects may benefit, including construction of Briar Chapel Middle School and renovation of Northwood High School. View the full story, as reported by NBC 17.

First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

In its efforts to stimulate the economy and revive the housing market, Congress has enacted legistlation providing a tax credit of up to $8000 for qualified first-time homebuyers purchasing a principal residence on or after January 1, 2009 and before December 1, 2009.

Learn how you can take advantage of this tax credit to buy a home in Briar Chapel.

Groundbreaking Ceremony for Briar Chapel Middle School

Community leaders were on hand last Thursday (1/29) just off Andrews Store Road to break ground on the new site of Briar Chapel Middle School. The new 120,000 sqft site will be home to a new $26.5 million facility that is built to be energy efficient and LEED certified, making it Chatham County's first green school.

Read the full story that News 14 published, which includes video coverage of the event.

Tree Spade Earthcasts at Briar Chapel

If you've been to Briar Chapel, you undoubtedly noticed the large earthcast sculptures that adorn the traffic circle near the Briar Club and pool. These were created by Thomas Sayre, a Raleigh-based artist and co-founder of Clearscapes, a multi-disciplinary design firm.

Sayre’s large-scale sculpture and public artworks are installed worldwide, from Atlanta to Portland, and from Turkey to Thailand. Thomas is probably best known for the Gyre, the monumental earthcast rings he created at the NC Museum of Art. His local works also include the Shimmer Wall at the Raleigh Convention Center, the gleaming marble World Wall at Marbles Kids Museum, and the Pas de Chat outside the Progress Center for the Performing Arts on Lichtin Plaza.

Currently, Sayer is exhibiting two new bodies of work at the NCSU Gregg Museum of Art & Design. Similar to the installation at Briar Chapel, he is displaying a group of site-specific earthcasts made from a commercial tree spade. To see how he creates these sculptures, check out this time-lapse video on his website.