The Wilmington area is a vibrant, growing location. Southern Living Magazine recently rated Wilmington as the number one up and coming city in the United States. Other publications have touted Wilmington as a great place to live and visit.
People want to live here and visit here. What is the attraction?
Read MoreI am very pleased to present recent photos of the renovation of the Columbus County Courthouse in Whiteville, North Carolina. This iconic and beautiful building is special to me. I served as the Executive Director of the Whiteville Downtown Development Association, Inc. for two and one-half years a few years ago as a favor to my good friend John Fisher. I always admired the beauty of the building and hoped it would reopen one day. That day has come. It will be open soon and will be a significant asset to the Town of Whiteville and its downtown area.
Read MoreI am pleased to announce the upcoming celebration of Selma, NC’s Union Station. Steve Unger and I with Eastern Carolina Rail, Inc. are helping promote this event. If you get a chance, you will enjoy this event. If you can’t make it, make a note to visit this historic building sometime in the future.
Read MoreIn this blog, I am pleased to feature a recent article in Our State Magazine featuring my very good friend, Elaine Henson.
The article is entitled “Bathing Beauties”, documenting Elaine’s adventure as a vintage swimsuit collector.
Read MoreAfter many years of little activity, Castle Street is beginning to come alive. Whereas there is a way to go, things are looking good in this Wilmington neighborhood.
I am pleased to feature today the current development work being accomplished by Dave Spetrino,(former owner) of PBC Design Build; now solely focused on local, infill development and real estate projects.
Read MoreI am pleased to feature the Burgaw Depot in my latest blog. As you may be aware, I am working with Steve Unger at Eastern Carolina Rail to promote restored rail service from Wilmington to Raleigh, especially passenger service. We propose several stops along the route to Raleigh, and Burgaw would be the first. Other stops would include Wallace, Warsaw, Goldsboro, and Selma. In addition to passenger rail service along the route, commercial traffic would be included.
Read MoreI am very pleased to feature the Bellamy Mansion Museum in my blog today. The museum is an historic and architectural iconic treasure of our city. The museum house itself is one of my favorite structures in downtown, and for that matter, the entire City of Wilmington. To me, it is a beautiful building, constructed with wonderful architecture.
To quote Wikipedia: “ The Bellamy Mansion, built between 1859 and 1861, is a mixture of Neoclassical architectural styles, including Greek Revival and Italianate and is located at 503 Market Steet in the heart of downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. It is one of North Carolina’s finest examples of historic antebellum architecture.”
Read MoreWould it not be great to catch an urban train from downtown Wilmington to the ILM airport to connect to your flight. Think of all the money you could save on parking.
Attached Is an article written by my associate, Steve Unger, discussing this concept.
I hope you find it interesting.
Read MoreAttached is a letter I sent to the NC DOT, asking them to decoratively light the Cape Fear River Bridge after they have made the major improvements they are now beginning. I hope you think this is a good idea and that you will contact your public officials, asking them to support this project.
Read MoreI have always been impressed by small businesses that have survived and prospered for many years, facing many challenges, as a testimony to their strong ownership and management.
No better example of a local business with these attributes is the Just Like New Shoppe, located at 1014 South Kerr Avenue in Wilmington.
The shop was founded in 1974 by Margery Garrabrant. “Margey”, a local Wilmington girl, was the daughter of Emily R. and John R. Garrabrant and sister of Edgar Garrabrant, all from Wilmington.
Read MoreOne of my favorite iconic structures in downtown Wilmington is the New Hanover County Courthouse, located at the corner of 3rd and Princess Streets. Its actual street address is 316 Princess Street. In addition to use as a courthouse, the building is used for meetings of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners.
Read MoreThe City of Wilmington has recently purchased the former Coast Guard Dock property in front of the Federal Building. The purchase price was 1.2 million dollars. Attached in this blog is the story regarding this sale written by Gareth McGrath and published in the USA Today Network. There was some controversy on the Wilmington City Council regarding the price paid for the property. Some of the Councilmembers thought the government should have given us the land. That would have been nice, but, in these days and times, not realistic.
Read MoreMarket Street, from Burnt Mill Creek to the downtown waterfront, is architecturally and historically significant, and emits much beauty of nature.
The development of Market Street corresponds with the development of the City of Wilmington.
Read MoreWelcome to Blog # 21, featuring Pappy Gay’s Soda shop, formerly located on Market Street.
Many people in this city have fond memories from their youth of eating at Pappy Gay’s and enjoying the company of their friends and classmates.
Pappy Gay was Gerhardt Joseph Wilden and his wife, whom we fondly called “Miss Gay”,
Read MoreThe Alton Lennon Federal Building on Water Street in Wilmington, is, in my view, one of the most architecturally and historically significant buildings in the downtown area. No doubt it is a Certified Historic Structure and a Historic Places Landmark. I am pleased to feature it on my blog today.
On September 14, 2018, the Lennon Building was subject to wind, rain, and flooding during Hurricane Florence. During the storm, the building lost power for an extended period. This, combined with aging MEP systems created an opportunity for mold growth in the building. Following the storm, mechanical systems could not be turned back on for several months to prevent the mold from spreading further.
Read MoreBradley Creek Station, located at 5,815 Oleander Drive in Wilmington, is, in my view, a great looking modern commercial building. Being a historic preservationist, I tend to be less excited about modern architecture, but I think this building is a jewel.
Read MoreWelcome to Blog 18, featuring 200 Market Street in downtown Wilmington, a good example of appropriate in-fill development.
Read MoreOn an ominous March 1, 1968, a sizeable crowd gathered to watch the last “Palmetto” pull out of Wilmington, North Carolina at 5:15 pm on its last Seaboard Coast Line run - headed to Rocky Mount and connecting to Raleigh. With this event, passenger trains from the former corporate home of the Atlantic Coast Line were now history. But today, change is in the air.
Read MoreToday I am pleased to feature the headquarters building of the City of Wilmington Fire Department.
From an architectural point of view, I feel this structure is a great example of quality urban infill development. If fits into and does not overpower the neighborhood, despite its size. Its excellent design is an attraction. Most of the parking is hidden in the rear, out of sight from Market Street.
Read MoreThe Murchison Building is one of my favorite structures in downtown Wilmington. It is certainly an historically and architecturally significant structure, greatly contributing to the thread of other historic structures downtown.
The building is an eleven-story brick and marble building.
Read More
