Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1108657
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM APRIL 24-30, 2019 UCW 11 e city of Fayetteville official who served as project director for the new minor league baseball Segra Stadium will not be attending this spring's special events. e city manager's office said former Deputy City Manager Rochelle Small-Toney "was invited but is unable to attend." Up & Coming Weekly in- quired but received no response from her. Years before it had a name, Segra Sta- dium was Small-Toney's idea. Soon after the city hired Small-Toney in 2013, she said she was asked to come up with an economic development plan for down- town Fayetteville. e sports enthusiast suggested minor league baseball. She was the first African American to play women's varsity basket- ball at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Small-Toney helped jump-start discus- sions about bringing professional base- ball back to Fayetteville. She oversaw all phases of the project, including the feasi- bility study; recruitment of the Houston Astros, a Class A Advanced minor league team; development of the memorandum of understanding; and the creation of a 30-year financial plan. e stadium and a mixed-use com- mercial property development plan brought the new owners of the former Prince Charles Hotel on board. City Council granted PCH Holdings of Dur- ham an exclusive contract to develop the property adjacent to the stadium. e results include a pair of buildings atop a five-story parking garage. PCH also renovated the hotel and converted it into an eight-story apart- ment building. e investments thus far represent more than $100 million in new development. Small-Toney has baccalaureate and master's degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has 35 years of experience in govern- ment. Before leaving her post in 2016, she confirmed the city's interest in building a stadium and eventually bringing in a minor league team: "e city is very much interested, I think, in pursuing the construction of a minor league stadium," she said. During her tenure, Small-Toney led a group of local leaders and other rep- resentatives of Fayetteville on tours of several ballparks and cities over several months. ose sites included Durham, North Carolina; Columbia, South Caro- lina; Sugarland, Texas; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Nashville, Tennessee. Of all those ballparks, only the Durham Bulls Athletic Park was built before 2012. e D-BAP had a $19 million makeover at the end of the 2013 season. e stadiums in Durham, Columbia, Nashville and Charlotte also were built downtown, to trigger an influx of busi- ness and development. Small-Toney said from the start that this was an important objective of a new stadium. "We have a redevelopment plan that includes a minor league baseball stadium," Small- Toney said in a late 2016 interview. Small-Toney now serves as city man- ager of Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The woman behind downtown's new Segra Stadium by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS Former Fayetteville Deputy City Manager Rochelle Small-Toney MUSIC AND LYRICS BY David Bryan BOOK AND LYRICS BY Joe DiPietro DIRECTED BY Suzanne Agins (CFRT's 'Dreamgirls') CHOREOGRAPHED BY Ellenore Scott (Broadway's 'King Kong') STARRING Shonica Gooden from Broadway's 'Hamilton' GET YOUR TICKETS AT CFRT.ORG or 910.323.4233 Book your tickets at CFRT.org or call 910.323.4233 May 9-26 May 9-26 Advertising Grow Your Business For effective advertising, Call 910.484.6200 today! www.upandcomingweekly.com Of Cumberland County www.kidsvillenews.com/ cumberland Improve Reading, Enhance Comprehension, Build Vocabulary, Encourage Curiosity, Broaden Horizons Ask Questions, Answer Questions, Inspire Goals & Reach 81,400 Teachers, Parents & Children Every Month? Call for more information 484-6200