CityView Magazine

living revolved around downtown: shopping, eating, socializing and taking in a movie. The idea that the place of his own wonder years would soon lose its lifeblood couldn't have been fur- ther from his mind. In fact, like many young people, Tony Chavonne leſt Fayetteville thinking he would never return. But he did return, and, ironically, never leſt again. Not only did he not leave, but he gained a front row seat to the slow decay of his boyhood home. The 1970's and 80's were hard on America's urban centers, and Fayetteville was no excep- tion. As the Skibo Road area began to thrive, downtown be- gan to dwindle, slowly mutating from the hub of productivity to a refuge for marginal living. "My first job was in the First Citizens Bank Building on Green Street," remembers the man who is now Fayetteville's fourth term mayor. "I was able to witness the deterioration of downtown firsthand." Seeing his town turn away from itself converted Chavonne from being a young Fayetteville deserter into one of its tru- est believers and deepest investors. Now sitting in his new W 18 | October • 2012 hen a young Tony Chavonne leſt Fayetteville in 1973 to attend UNC Chapel Hill, his hometown's hub was still strong. Back then his whole world Historic living in the heart of downtown BY SHARI DRAGOVICH downtown home, with its 166 Bow St. address and its sweep- ing views of Fayetteville's revitalized downtown, Chavonne reflected on watching the transformation of his city. Over the course of 30 years Chavonne would spend a full career with The Fayetteville Observer and, with his wife Joanne, raise two sons, frequently going for runs around downtown with YMCA friends to inspect the early progress of the area's revitalization. Sometime during the mid-2000's, the Chavonnes were attending a loſt tour sponsored by the Downtown Alliance and featuring the 300 Hay Street devel- opment. They immediately became excited, recognizing the special impact of marrying residential and business spaces for stimulating downtown growth. "When people are considering a move to your area, they want to know how you treat your downtown, because it's your living room," Chavonne said, speaking from his perspective as a former chairman to the Chamber of Commerce and Eco- nomic Development Team. "Downtown had become a com- petitive disadvantage for us." However, with the development of the Hay Street loſts, the Chavonnes could see what was once a competitive disadvantage, now had the potential to be an advantage. "There was something special for me to be a part

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