Officially open
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on November 3, 2015 1:46 PM
Full Size
News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Mayor Al King and other community leaders participate in the Streetscape ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday evening.
Full Size
News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Nancy Coor, left, and Caron Stewart clap along to music performed by Majesty Rose and her band at the Streetscape ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday evening. Attendees received "Do It Downtown" gift bags and enjoyed live music before the ceremony.
Rain didn't dampen the spirits of more than 200 people as they gathered on Center Street to witness Monday evening's ribbon-cutting to mark the completion of the city's Streetscape project.
The second phase of the project, which began in August 2014, finished on Oct. 26 after the streets were paved and traffic lines were painted.
The project was made possible by a $10 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) V grant gifted to Goldsboro by the federal government, and a funding match from the city of $4.5 million.
The money not only helped revitalize Center Street, but also funded the construction of a transfer center for the Goldsboro-Wayne Transportation Authority and provided money for new sidewalks and pavement on the section of Walnut Street that runs from Center Street to Carolina Street.
But Monday night's ceremony was much longer in the making than the past 14 months of work -- about 10 years longer.
"It took several years to invest the funds needed to conduct a comprehensive master plan (developed in 2006 for Goldsboro and adopted in 2007) with professional services, but in 2006 we were able to start," said Downtown Goldsboro Development Corp. Director Julie Metz. "So today we're actually celebrating 10 years of work."
Streetscape was an initiative started by the city in an effort to revitalize its downtown.
"We all knew that downtown wasn't working," Ms. Metz said. "It wasn't working for the few businesses that remained here, it wasn't working for the property owners that owned property here, and it was not promoting a healthy, vibrant community."
But early indicators suggest that Streetscape is already helping breathe life back into downtown.
Since the city announced it had received a TIGER V grant in September 2013 and would be changing the face of downtown with that money, 28 new businesses have opened downtown.
And citizens at Monday night's ceremony were thrilled to see a fresh downtown.
"I came for the celebration because I wanted to see the completion of it all," said Carl Martin, who has lived in Goldsboro for 10 years. "I had seen how torn up the streets were and so I wanted to see the final product. It has changed the way it looks completely. There didn't used to be any roundabouts, it looked very old and dilapidated and the business were run down. It was a depressing sight."
But Martin said that Streetscape had changed that and the area is on track to continue to improve. City officials said Monday night they are planning on adding trees to the center median of the street as soon as the leaves fall on the 34 willow oak trees that are to be placed in downtown.
"I think it's on its way," Martin said. "There are still a few things that can be stabilized, like bringing more businesses downtown and filling in the apartments downtown to get people living down here."
Phil Bedford, who owns the Family Shoe Store on Walnut Street, said he hopes the revitalization project will help stimulate more traffic in and out of his business that has been downtown for many decades.
"I've been running up and down these streets since I was 6 years old," Bedford said. "I'm glad to see it making a comeback and it's good to see so many people out here for this. I'm excited for Goldsboro. I've said it would be vital for downtown to give outsiders a better impression and this does."
Monday night's festivities wrapped up with the event-goers helping city officials cut 1,200 feet of ribbon that stretched across the 100 block of North Center Street, after which nearly everyone in attendance gathered behind Mayor Al King's car to walk in a parade down Center Street.