By Deborah Buckhalter

Published: March 26, 2008

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.