Old North News

City of Whiteville issued the following announcement.

The City of Whiteville hosted its first meeting Tuesday to create a vision for a revitalized downtown with the help of a Raleigh consulting firm.

“We’re listening tonight and already got a lot of great comments,” said Brian Starkey, director of parks and recreation at WithersRavenel, the civil and environmental engineer firm contracted by the city.

The City of Whiteville hired WithersRavenel last August, using a grant of $44,000. The firm had already visited Whiteville twice before the meeting  to assess its issues and its benefits, according to Starkey. The firm plans to have a detailed layout of downtown by January.

“It’s an exciting project, so we’re getting busy,” Starkey said. “We’ll gather a lot of information tonight, then go back to the office and start to draw up plans, then bring back to the next community meeting alternatives.”

Starkey said one of his first impressions of downtown is that it needs consistency, something the plan hopes to address. Madison Street’s narrow corridor and sidewalks present a challenge, but one that can be overcome with creative designs.

WithersRavenel will host one or two other community meetings to receive input from Whiteville residents on its vision, according to Starkey.

The consulting team asked attendees to place dots beside examples of features they prefer. These ranged from lighting styles to traffic-calming features. A roundabout at Columbus and Madison streets at City Hall was a popular recommendation. Outdoor dining near restaurants and landscaped areas beside streets were also high on the list.

Other topics raised by attendees included the possibility of converting Madison Street to one way to give the downtown streetscape breathing room, plus making East and West Main streets south of the railroad one way to create diagonal spaces to double parking capacity. Others suggested burying overhead wires and cables on Madison from Webster Street to Walter Street  to complete a similar project from the 1980s in the heart of the business district.

Converting the abandoned Lewis Smith Shopping Center into a park or green space that could also serve as a flood mitigation project  garnered a fair amount of attention.

Input about too little, many changes

Carol Caldwell, former executive director of DREAM Center, had her own vision, one from the past. “I remember how vibrant downtown was as a child growing up, and I’d like to see some of that energy back in,” she said. “There was always something to go downtown [for] on Saturday afternoon.”

Caldwell blamed big businesses and more cars for the change. “The shopping center came in, and businesses started moving out,” she said, adding that “People had better transportation, so they could travel other places.”

Amber Bellamy, current executive director of the DREAM Center, didn’t have those same memories of a vibrant downtown but noted some differences in the six years she’s lived in Whiteville. “Now is the time when you can see there are improvements,” she said. “They are really trying to make changes.”

Both Bellamy and Caldwell said they would like to see more outdoor seating and plantings along the streets.

Kaye Pope looks at a display of existing areas of downtown Whiteville.

Paul Nichols and Tracy Robinson, however, disagreed, arguing that there haven’t been enough changes happening downtown. “Whiteville is very stuck; the people that have lived here all their life, they don’t like changes,” Robinson said. “The owners [of the business] don’t want to do anything.”

Nichols agreed, adding that his main concern was continual preservation of the businesses downtown. “I want the building owners to maintain their buildings.”

Robinson argued that development is necessary for Whiteville. “In order to grow and to generate revenue, you’ve got to change.”

Both did express concern, however, about too much change. “Wilmington is full; Leland is going to full up in another year,” Nichols said. “People will start working this way.”

Robinson agreed, adding that in around three years “Whiteville is going to be Leland.”

To add ideas about the new plan for downtown Whiteville, complete a survey at Whitevillenc.gov/downtownmasterplan or send comments to bstarkey@withersravenel.com.

Original source can be found here.