"The StarNews spent much of 2011 taking a closer look at downtown Wilmington, the problems it faces, its future and some of the main players leading downtown toward that future.

The good news is there were plenty of interesting people, places and ideas to write about.

It's easy to forget that not that many years ago downtown had pretty much hit rock bottom. With the opening of Independence mall in the 1970s, downtown lost two of its last large department stores – Belk and J.C. Penney.

A few stores stayed in business along with a smattering of bars – some of the topless variety – and adult bookstores.

City and county government, Cape Fear Tech (as it was named then) and the courthouse helped keep downtown going, but that was about it.

All of that began to change in the late 1970s. The preservation and restoration of hundreds of nearby historic homes (which actually had begun earlier in the decade) began to take off, Thalian Hall began to re-blossom as a performance arts space and downtown became anchored by Chandler's Wharf to the south and the Cotton Exchange to the north.

Slowly but surely, the two ends became connected by a riverwalk."

Read full story . . .

Star News (1/1/2012)