Good morning. If you stroll around downtown Fayetteville, you’ll find bustling ground-floor shops and lively restaurants. But you’ll also see a number of empty storefronts.
Downtown has benefited from revitalization efforts over the past few decades with new projects like Linear Park, but attempts to increase commercial development and attract new businesses have stalled in recent years, writes Evey Weisblat. Some city leaders, including Mayor Mitch Colvin, believe stringent development regulations for the Downtown Historic District are significantly to blame.
Welcome to CityView Today. In today’s newsletter: the county Sheriff’s Office will soon get a new robot for bomb squad missions and other high-risk situations. Hope Mills commissioners approved a $187,325 budget amendment, a significant portion of which covers the cost of installing an antenna on top of a cell tower behind Town Hall. And a Fort Liberty figure skating coach grieves for young athletes who died in the American Airlines flight crash over the Potomac River last week.
Thanks for reading,
Maydha Devarajan
Interim Editor-in-Chief
City leaders unsatisfied with proposed historic district design standards
While downtown Fayetteville has benefited from revitalization efforts over the past few decades with new projects like Linear Park, attempts to increase commercial development and attract new businesses have stalled in recent years.
More from CityView
Cumberland Sheriff’s Office to buy Canadian bomb squad robot
Commissioners declare February is Black History Month, approve drone and pickleball spending.
Hope Mills cell tower antenna addition costs over $50,000
“$10,000 was just for the antenna. To install the antenna on the cell tower is a completely different story,” said finance director to town board on Monday.
THE KIRBY FILE: Fort Liberty figure skating coach grieves for young athletes, who perished in ill-fated flight
“I knew them from watching them over the last two years,” Aly Hansen says about Jinna Han, 13, and Cory Haynos, 16, who were among those aboard American Eagle Flight 5342.
Events
TODDLER STORY TIME: FRIENDSHIP
- Where: West Regional Branch Library, 7469 Century Circle, Fayetteville
- When: 10-10:30 a.m. today
- What: Join us for stories and songs for toddlers 2-3 years.
PRESCHOOL: WACKY WORMS
- Where: Cape Fear Botanical Garden, 536 N. Eastern Blvd., Fayetteville
- When: 10-11 a.m. today
- What: In this class, preschoolers will learn how worms help our Earth, create a worm craft, and explore a worm compost bin to handle real worms.
THEATRE: MISERY
- Where: Gilbert Theater, 116 Green St., Fayetteville
- When: Today
- What: Based on the Stephen King novel directed by Robyne Parrish is in rehearsals now. The cast and crew are working hard to bring you this “Best Selling” thriller to the Gilbert stage.
Obituaries
Rexie Bell Singletary
Rexie Bell Singletary, 89, of Bladenboro, passed way on Friday, Jan. 31.
Dorothy Mac McNeill
Dorothy McNeill, 73, of Fayetteville passed away on Sunday, Feb. 2.
Dorothy Mac McNeill
Debra Colette Mitchell, 74, of Fayetteville, passed away on Wednesday, Jan. 22.
Until tomorrow!
🎵 I didn’t watch the Grammys live on Sunday, but I shed a few tears watching clips of Beyoncé accept the award for Album of the Year for Cowboy Carter. The country album was one of my favorites from 2024, and if you haven’t listened to it yet, now is the best time to start. And if you’re curious about the legacy and history of Black artists in country music (and connections to North Carolina!), Oxford American compiled a great resource in “Black Country: A Love Letter and Living Archive.”
~ Maydha
