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: https://www.epageflip.net/i/119315
STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman bbowman@upandcomingweekly.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Janice Burton editor@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS OFFICER Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR Stephanie Crider stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com ART DIRECTOR Alicia Miller art@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS D.G. Martin, Pitt Dickey, Margaret Dickson, John Hood, Erinn Crider, Karen Poppele, Heather Grif���ths DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/ OFFICE COORDINATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com MARKETING/SALES Cynthia Deere cynthia@upandcomingweekly.com Linda McAlister Brown linda@upandcomingweekly.com Kristy Sykes kristy@upandcomingweekly.com Beverly Pone beverlypone@upandcomingweekly.com ��������������������������������� Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan Street 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 Air Force Base, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. Subscriptions can be purchased for $30 for six months or $60 for 12 months, delivered weekly by first class mail. ��2007 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. INSIDE Calendar ........................................... 16 Concert Connection ........................ 22 TV ..................................................... 24 Free Wheelin��� Feelin��� ....................... 26 PUBLISHER���S PEN Downtown Fayetteille Coming Into Its Own by JANICE BURTON If you happened to be downtown on Friday, March 22 or Friday, March 29, you had a glimpse of what our city leaders and downtown merchants want our city center to become. If you visited downtown on either of these days, you saw a host of activities taking place. Families dining, musicians performing and on the 29th, people dancing in the streets. These events, 4th Friday and the Back to the Beach Blast were just two of the many activities that will occur over the course of a year in our historic downtown. If, those who have invested in downtown and our community leaders have it their way, the activity in downtown won���t be event driven, but rather will be a day-to-day occurrence. I moved to Fayetteville in 1997, just when the downtown renaissance truly got underway. That was the year that old buildings came down to make way for the Airborne and Special Operations Museum, city hall and the police station. During this time frame, the Arts Council began hosting 4th Friday and Huske Hardware opened. I remember my dad���s reaction when I told him I was going to downtown Fayetteville on a Friday night. Even though I was in my-mid 20s, he was prepared to come to Fayetteville and lock me up. He had no idea of what was happening here. And the majority of us, as a community, have no idea of how much more can come and of how great our city can truly be. But thankfully, there are the true believers. There are those in the community who care enough to invest not only their time and talent into our downtown, but also their money. They live and breathe downtown and it is their vision and drive that have brought us this far. For the business owners who had faith in downtown, kudos! Your vision was validated by the recognition of Hay Street as one of North Carolina���s ���Great Main Streets.��� The judges recognized not only the beauty of our city, but the strong desire of the community that saw it change from a red-light district to a historic downtown. Fayetteville���s Weather Forecast Thursday April 4 Friday April 5 4 UCW APRIL 3-9, 2013 High 65�� Low 45�� Sunny Up & Coming Weekly, COMMENTS? editor@upandcomingweekly.com. Sunday April 7 Saturday April 6 High 70�� Low 48�� Partly Cloudy In the write-up for the award, the judges noted, ���With thriving restaurants, sidewalk cafes, a mix of everyday uses, of���ces and residences, the street is a popular destination for tourists and residents alike. Anchored by the historic Market House landmark on its east end and the Haymount residential historic district and Airborne & Special Operations Museum on its west end, this distinctive corridor represents a journey through time as re���ected in its architecture.��� Now that the area is getting statewide recognition, our businesses need to use that traction to really move forward. In short, they need to make hay while the sun shines. In the past, that might not have been possible. Many in the downtown community initially had a Field of Dreams mentality. They followed the ���If you build it, they will come��� philosophy. That didn���t exactly work out very well. Downtown business owners have had several attempts at pulling together, but none nearly as successful as what we are seeing today. They understand that they can���t hide their light under a bucket. They get that they just can���t wait for people to ���nd them. They know they have to give people a reason to come downtown. And to a certain extent, it���s working. In April, the downtown merchants will host an open-house event to not only thank the citizens who patronize their businesses, but also to show off what���s new and what���s up and coming. That will be followed up by the Dogwood Festival at the end of the month, which will bring thousands of visitors to our community. In May, the community will host its annual 31 Days salute to the military. All of these activities will draw people to our city center, and you can bet, with a revitalized view on its future, our local businesses are going to give people plenty to talk about. JANICE BURTON, Associate Publisher, Call 910.354.1679 24 / High 59�� Low 43�� Mostly Sunny Horoscopes/Advice Goddess ......... 27 Classifieds ........................................ 28 Games .............................................. 30 Dining Guide.....................................31 Monday April 8 Tuesday April 9 High 69�� Low 43�� Partly Cloudy High 68�� Low 42�� Partly Cloudy High 65�� Low 42�� Partly Cloudy 7 Forecast available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM