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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8 JUNE 22-28, 2016 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM NEWS For retired Fayetteville Fire Chief Benny Nichols, December 7, 1995, was a turning point in his long career. It was the day former 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper James Burmeister, 21, killed Jackie Burden and Michael James near downtown Fayetteville. He was identified as a Neo-Nazi skinhead with a hatred for African Ameri- cans. His objective that night was to kill a couple of African-Americans. The cold-blooded killings bothered Nichols. He wondered how he might help bring the community out of several dark years of racial discontent. Forums were organized to bring people together to discuss racial issues. "The realization back in the late '90s was that I could do something as an individual," Nichols said. He was an assistant chief at the time and thought maybe he could change the relationship of the fire department with Fayetteville's minorities. Nichols persuaded City Council that it was long past time to build a fire station in the inner city to replace one that had been closed 20 years earlier. Fayetteville's first black mayor, Marshall Pitts, helped cut the ribbon on the Langdon Street station two years later. Nichols called Fire Station 14 an investment in the community because it was more than a fire house. Fayetteville State University donated the property, and in return the larger-than-usual sta- tion became a community center. As chief, Nichols made the recruitment of minorities a priority for the fire department. His vision was a course of study at E.E. Smith High School that would encourage young African-Americans to consider a career in the fire service. Then Smith Principal Rene Corders was one of Nichols' enthu- siastic supporters. The program took hold also at Fayetteville Technical Community College and Fayetteville State University. The objective was a bachelor's degree in Fire Science. Fire Station 14 was also an extension of academia, or would have been had the concept succeeded. It was built with coed dormitories and classrooms for interns who could actually live the life of firefighters as they studied. But with the turn of the decade and the advent of Internet studies, that portion of the concept fizzled. And because more recently the city administration decided to revitalize city hall to make more room for offices, the fire chief and his senior staff were moved to station 14. The classrooms and dormitory were converted into offices and the fire station lost its identity as a community center. The joint fire academy is ongoing; however, with online studies being an integral part of the curriculum at several Cumberland County high schools. Did Nichols' concept invigorate the recruitment of young African Americans? No, but it wasn't because the fire department didn't give it a try. So why aren't minority students interested in becoming firefighters? "I wish I had the answer to that," Nichols said. Fire Chief Ben Major echoes Nichols' frustration. "It's easy not to be interested in what you don't know much about," said Major. He tells Up & Coming Weekly that he makes it a point to be seen at events in the black community. "They need to see me," he noted. Major is one of only a dozen or so African-Americans among the city's 331 firefighters. The department doesn't have a full-time recruiter like the police department does. Major has asked for one over the last couple of years, but has been denied by City Council. For his efforts, the Nancy Susan Reynolds Foundation awarded Nichols a $25,000 grant to begin a scholarship for students interested in fire service stud- ies. The Cumberland Community Foundation administers the scholarship, which has grown to a fund of $30,000. It's up to school administrators and guidance counselors to make pupils aware of the fund. Unlike the police department, turnover isn't a problem for the FFD. Remarkably there are no vacancies on the department. There's a generational kinship among fathers and sons, and that too impacts efforts to diversify the department, and not just in Fayetteville. It's "become a major conversation among fire chiefs everywhere," Major said. Integrating the Fayetteville Fire Department by JEFF THOMPSON An integrated engine company at station 14. "If we don't do this, we will commit ourselves to mediocrity for a long time," declared former state senator Tony Rand. He spoke out at a public meeting hosted by the North Carolina Civil War History Center Board of Directors. President Mac Healy brought Fayetteville City Council and a few County Commissioners together to ask for their financial support. No state has ever presented a comprehensive view of the effect of those times on all of its people … until now. Board member Mary Lynn Bryan emphasized that the educa- tional center would focus on antebellum North Carolina, the War Between the States itself and reconstruction, virtually most of the 19th cen- tury. North Carolina people, not battles, would be the overarching presentation. Healy told a full house at the Arts Council downtown that development of ideas for the center has been underway for eight years. Of- ficials are at the point now of soliciting $7.5 million commitments from the city and county. Total projected cost of the 60,000-square-foot facility is $65 million. Here's the breakdown: $7.5 million in local private donations, $7.5 million in statewide private donations, $15 million in city and county grants, $30 million in State of North Carolina grants and $5 million in state in-kind contributions. Healy said the state wants a local commitment to show that Fayetteville is serious about what would become a division of the North Carolina Mu- seum of History. But, he added that if the state doesn't com- mit, local government would not be held to their pledges. The center would provide "an opportunity to teach peo- ple; to make people think," Bryan said. "It takes Fayetteville statewide as a tourist destination," said Dr. James Ander- son, Chancellor of Fayetteville State University. In answer to questions from Fayetteville Mayor Pro Tem Mitch Colvin and Councilman Larry Wright, Board of Advisors Chair Dr. James Leutze assured all present that a motivating objec- tive was to be sure the center told the multi-cultural his- tory of the era. Healy said ground breaking is tentatively set for 2020. The history center, once built, would be operated by the state according to Healy. Annual operating cost is estimated to be about what it now costs to run the Museum of the Cape Fear which it would replace. The Civil War History Center would be built on the grounds of the 19th Century Fayetteville Arsenal and would incorporate the ruins of the arsenal. The entrance to the grounds and parking, would be where the museum is now. A covered walkway would traverse the highway below. The Civil War Story of North Carolina's People by JEFF THOMPSON The proposed educational center would focus on antebellum North Carolina, the War Between the States itself and reconstruction, virtually most of the 19th century. JEFF THOMPSON, Senior News Reporter. COMMENTS? news@upandcomingweekly. com. 910.484.6200.