Up & Coming Weekly

March 29, 2022

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.

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4 UCW MARCH 30 - APRIL 5, 2022 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR Emily Sussman editor@upandcomingweekly.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Hannah Lee assistanteditor@upandcomingweekly. com PRODUCTION MANAGER/ GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dylan Hooker art@upandcomingweekly.com STAFF WRITER Alyson Hansen Ashley Shirley MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Margaret Dickson, Soni Martin, Dan Debruler, Cynthia Ross, Ben Sessoms COVER Design by Dylan Hooker Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan St. P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: 910-484-6200- FAX: 910-484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and information on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Army Airfield, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. © 2020 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Various ads with art graphics designed with elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. PUBLISHER'S PEN 82 64 82 83 79 82 63 64 83 66 64 65 THU MAR 31 FRI APR 01 SAT APR 02 SUN APR 03 MON APR 04 TUE APR 05 81 58 74 49 71 52 69 47 66 44 66 48 Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Showers Showers Mostly Sunny Association of Community Publishers Very few people know that my first career out of the Army, in 1970, was in the hos- pitality industry. My degree, earned in the Army's Project Transition Program, was in hotel/motel management. And fortunately, my first job was with Pinehurst, Inc. I was a hotel management intern at their elegant and historic Carolina Hotel in the village of Pinehurst. I worked under and with the industry's most experienced and dedi- cated hospitality professionals. From bell hopping to the front desk to housekeeping, night auditing and food and beverage, I learned from the best. At twenty-one years old, I was eager to learn the craft and even keener to immerse myself in a satisfying career dedicated to making people feel welcomed, comfortable and happy. It's a colossal transition from hotel management and hospitality to newspa- per publishing, and there were several other experiences and careers in-between. However, I learned one thing for sure, the rules and principles they taught me in the hospitality industry apply to every aspect of work and life I have experienced since then. is is why I have dedicated the past 26 years to showcasing and accentuating the Fayetteville community. When I created the Up & Coming Weekly newspaper in 1996, the Fayetteville com- munity had no shortage of warm and welcoming residents, arts and culture, dedicated and involved business profes- sionals or municipal leadership. What the Fayetteville community did lack was some- what of an enigma to me, and that was an advocate for the city. In the absence of sufficient media, a dedicated local TV and radio station, the marketing and promo- tion of the uniquely friendly nature of our diverse Fayetteville community was lost. Filling that void became our mantra and, ultimately, our business philosophy. e rest is history. So, you may be asking what all this information has to do with apart- ments and hotels. Much. It is commendable that Jordan Jones of Prince Charles Holdings LLC and the city have agreed to building over 200 apart- ments above the $17 million-plus Hay Street Parking deck. e deck without the elevator! Residential apartments may seem like a good alternative after the Hyatt hotel, and office building didn't material- ize. I do not think it is the best alterna- tive because of all the hard work the Arts Council, Cool Spring Downtown District, Fayetteville Area Convention and Visi- tors Bureau, the Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Alliance and many others are doing to enhance historic downtown Fayetteville. Everyone wants to make downtown Fayetteville a thriving destina- tion and a successful environment for local businesses, organizations and guests. With a background in the hospitality industry and after spending decades traveling for business, I can say, without a doubt, a first- class 3.5 or 4-star property located down- town would create a tourist and economi- cal tour de force for Fayetteville and the downtown business community. e Exit 49, Skibo Road and Cross Creek Mall areas have good businesses; however, they are not in downtown Fayetteville. People want- ing to experience the heart of our city want to stay in the heart of our city. Visitors, guests and travelers spending the night on the city's perimeter are reluctant to venture downtown and instead seek out more con- venient restaurants or entertainment ven- ues. However, if they stayed in the heart of historic downtown Fayetteville, the entire city would become their dining, entertain- ment and fun destination. I'm convinced that quality properties like Hyatt, Court- yard, Fairfield, Hilton or Hampton Inns would do exceptionally well while drawing travelers off I-95 and providing guests and visitors a favorable and hospitable impres- sion of our community. Local downtown businesses and city and county agencies would support such a venture because a quality hotel would provide lodging and meeting space convenient to both city and county offices. A quality downtown hotel would be a win-win for the local downtown businesses, the city and the county govern- ment, the Airborne and Special Operations Museum, the Woodpeckers, the Arts Coun- cil and citizens. e apartments are good, but a quality downtown hotel would make historic downtown Fayetteville even better. I'll close by sharing this: On July 29, seven Harley Davidson motorcycle riders (and one BMW) will be leaving Fayetteville and traveling to Sturgis, South Dakota, a distance of 1850 miles. Our itinerary includes spending the night in hotels in downtown Charleston, West Virginia, downtown Cleveland, Ohio, downtown Ludington, Michigan, downtown Milwau- kee, Wisconsin and downtown Deadwood, South Dakota. We are not the exception to the rule of travel enjoyment. Without a quality hotel, downtown Fayetteville deprives itself of a substantial economic opportunity by neglecting to provide the facility and amenities this market demands. In closing, if you know of any local hotel or business entrepreneurs who agree with this assessment, have them contact me. After I retire from the newspaper business, I will gladly come and manage their hotel for them. Full disclosure, I was never very good at housekeeping! ank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. Apartments are good: A hotel would be better! by BILL BOWMAN Photo courtesy of Pexels. BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? BILL@upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200.

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