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/192798
Moonlight and Dreams On Hay Street by JANICE BURTON Twenty years ago this month, Jan Johnson and Pat Wright were employed at Fayetteville Technical Community College. They did videography work for the school, and after several people asked them to do projects for them not associated with the school, they decided to venture out and, in their words, "stick their toes into the water and start moonlighting." It wasn't long after that, that they opened their first office in their home on Oct. 12, 1993. Johnson had young children at the time, and found the convenience of working at home to be beneficial. Their business quickly took off, and, after seven years, they had outgrown their home office and began looking for new digs for their growing company, Moonlight Communications. The pair found their place while doing what they do best, making videos. They were hired by Robin Kelly-Legg, then the director of the Old Fayetteville Association, to follow Robert Marvin, the designer of the Marvin Plan to revitalize downtown, to other city's that had successfully revitalized their downtowns. Footage from the visits became the video that really ignited the fire of revitalization of downtown when it was shown to the city council and community leaders at the Crown Arena. "I guess you could say we drank the Kool Aid and started looking for buildings downtown," said Johnson. They were encouraged in their decision by Eric Lindstrom, local architect and one of the first people to move into downtown at the start of the revitalization. Their opportunity to move downtown came four years later in 1999. "All good things come to those who wait," continued Johnson. "When we bought our building in 1999, you could have fired a gun through downtown and not hit anybody." The building they purchased was the original home of the Rainbow Restaurant, which is now located on Ramsey Street. According to Wright, who researched the building in great detail, the restaurant opened in the building in 1937 and moved out in 1974. The building stood empty for 25 years waiting for someone to restore it. Lesser women would have run screaming from the job, but Wright and Johnson embraced it. A lot of the old historic buildings had burned down during the derelict years. Homeless people would go inside the buildings and start fires in them for warmth. The floors of the Rainbow building had burn marks, but fortunately the building remained largely intact. Every weekend for a year, the two would put on their work clothes and their masks and grab their tools and head downtown. They applied for and received state and federal historical tax credits to rehab the building. Those credits put exacting demands on what could and could not be done. Great attention to detail was important in order to maintain the historical integrity of the building. The three-story building had structural damage, and in fact, the floors in the back section of the building had collapsed. The enterprising women 14 OCTOBER 16-22, 2013 painted lines on the floors to indicate the sound paths they could follow while working. They would carry the debris from the front of the building and pour it two floors down to the ground floor. They completely gutted the structure and were amazed at the beautiful pieces of the building they uncovered as they tore away years of construction. They were not alone in the project, as is the case in all that they have done, they are quick to call attention to the people who helped them along the way. Lindstrom and Greg King, another downtown dweller, were on speed dial and always available to lend them a hand. Lindstrom was of particular importance because of his building knowledge. "We would call and he always helped us out," said Wright. After pouring blood, sweat and tears into it, the two ensured that the building was put on the National Registry of historic buildings. With that designation, it cannot be torn down. It cannot be altered. This is important to the two, who are members of Preservation North Carolina. "We take the preservation of these old buildings very seriously," said Johnson. "We love these buildings and what they represent. So many of them have been lost." The three-story building is a multiuse structure. The third floor is a rental loft, the second floor is home to their business and the first floor houses The Rainbow Room, which is an event Jan Johnson (left) and Pat Wright (right) stand in front of Skyview on facility. Initially the bottom floor was Hay one of the two buildings they have renovated. The Rainbow Room to become retail space, but after 9/11, (opposite page) was their first. business stalled and the two decided to create another business. businesses may change, but there isn't a vacuum." "We made it affordable for people to come downtown They had an opportunity to change the course of and have parties. We brought a lot of people downtown another old building when what is now known as to use the facility and while they were here, they saw all Skyview on Hay came available. The building, located the other things downtown had to offer like the Cameo on the Market House end of Hay Street, had been a and Pierro's. People started seeing that things were series of bars before the ATF closed it down. Wright changing downtown." and Johnson had looked at the building earlier, but the By creating businesses downtown, the two felt they price was not right. With its closing, the building came gained credibility with their downtown neighbors. back on the market, and as they have seen repeatedly, "They saw that we were not just here to make a everything came together to make it a viable possibility. living, but rather we were going to put our money The building, which was initially constructed as where our mouths were," said Wright. a BB&T, had fallen into disrepair. The architectural The two proudly look at the changes downtown and qualities, which had defined the building when it was are happy to be a part of it. They see downtown on a first built, had been covered up and hidden from sight. constant upward trajectory. As was the case with the Rainbow building, the duo did "It's unbelievable the amount of money that has a lot of research finding pictures of the original interiors been invested in downtown," said Wright. "The of the building in order to bring the building back to its way a downtown grows is by making changes in its former glory. businesses. The core businesses remain, while other WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM