There are
many historic downtowns in the South that are described as “charming.” Images that
come to mind when one pictures a charming downtown are historic buildings and
sites, a slow pace of life, people greeting each other as they stroll along the
streets, restaurants with lots of character, shops selling handcrafted or
uncommon items, and businesses where the owners actually work in house or even
live upstairs.
While
downtown Wilmington
has all of the above, there’s much more that makes our downtown special. It
isn’t just the history, the beautiful buildings and the clean, landscaped streets.
Other cities have those things. It isn’t the cobblestone streets that end directly
on the water. A few other cities have those too.
What makes Wilmington’s
downtown unique is the makeup of the individually owned businesses and the bond
that they share through a value for culture and the arts. The shops, stores and
restaurants downtown are not a replica of stores in dozens of other towns. They
are not chains. They are one
(or in a few cases two) of a kind.
Downtown Wilmington’s unique
character recently sparked a group of leaders from the theater, museum and business
communities to brainstorm about a new slogan to use collaboratively to draw
more people downtown. Two slogans emerged that will be used simultaneously —
“Do It Downtown” to stress the huge number of fun things to do downtown and
“Make Memories Downtown” to stress the rich
opportunities for art, theater and history. These two slogans do indeed capture
what downtown Wilmington
is all about.
Theater
Many CapeFear
residents don’t even realize the hotbed of talent that is living among them with
respect to the performing arts. Living in the CapeFear
region and having never been to a show at one of the many theaters is akin to living
here and having never been to the beach.
Downtown
is the center of Wilmington’s cultural assets and is one of the best places in North
Carolina to experience live theater, thanks to the many performers, highly acclaimed
directors and production groups such as Big Dawg Productions and the Williston
Players, as well as the relentless efforts of individuals like Rob Zapple, who works
with public radio (WHQR) and Thalian Hall to support, promote and coordinate
the many performances that take place each year.
ThalianHallCenter for Performing Arts (currently
being renovated and upgraded) hosts dozens of professional, Broadway caliber performances
each year. Among the reasons that the performances are so professional is that
there is usually a first-class team behind the play. The directors, designers
and producers often have a professional background, and many have worked in
places like New York
in the past.
“The
ticket value is amazing here,” says Zapple. “People in other places are used to
paying fifty to one hundred dollars for a show. They can see the same show here
for twenty five dollars.”
In the
north wing of Thalian Hall is the 2nd Floor Studio Theatre, a traditional
“black box” theatre that hosts smaller, more intimate performances where
viewers get to sit in close proximity to the stage and the performers. Of
course, one cannot overlook Level 5 at City Stage, located on the rooftop, which
offers a very social theatrical experience due to its location. Performances of
various kinds are also held outdoors at GreenfieldLake
amphitheater.
In
addition to Thalian Hall, downtown is also the home of Brown Coat Pub and
Theatre, truly a one-of-a- kind
performing arena.
“To the
best of my knowledge Brown Coat is North Carolina’s only nonprofit theater that
does not have to rely on grants or donations, but rather relies solely on
ticket sales and alcohol sales,” says Richard Davis, the president of the nonprofit
theater.
The Brown
Coat is truly community centered in that its mission is to provide support and
offer a venue for emerging local performing artists to develop their skills in
front of a live audience. The establishment earns money by selling drinks
during the show, but then turns right back around and donates that money back
to the community, with particular emphasis on the performing arts.
“We donate
to charities like the Full Belly Project, but we have also done things like
help an actor make rent or pay for gas to make it to an audition in Atlanta,” says Davis.
Even with as much as Brown Coat gives, it is a completely self-sustaining nonprofit
organization.
Tunes
The live
music scene is alive and well in Wilmington,
and particularly so downtown. The Soapbox Laundro Lounge is the first venue
that comes to mind. In addition to local favorites, The Soapbox routinely
brings larger-name touring groups, such as Chatham County Line, to Wilmington. Bands are of
so many different genres, and venues are so plentiful that one can experience
performances from bluegrass to jam bands to hip hop all in the same night.
Sixteen
Taps, located on Princess Street,
draws more of the local bands, such as Barnraisers, L Shape Lot and No Dollar
Shoes. The Rusty Nail on 5th
Avenue is another great place to check out live
music and soulful blues. Some nights, live jazz can be heard at Deluxe, and on
Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights Front Street Brewery provides free live
music for its patrons. These are just a few examples of the live music that can
be found downtown.
Kids
Downtown
offers something for everyone, including kids and families. The Children’s
Museum of Wilmington, which is located on Orange Street,
infuses exploration and learning into children’s lives by allowing
them to be performers. Rick Lawson, a former educator of 40 years, is now the
executive director of the Children’s Museum. His goal is pretty simple: to
create a safe place for kids to play, which is incredibly conducive to
learning.
The museum
starts the thinking, and the children naturally complete the process. The
museum houses various exhibits that put the children at center stage, such as
the pirate exhibit “Ahoy Wilmington.” Each exhibit facilitates imagination and
creative development.
“Why not
live life through a child’s eyes?” asks Lawson. “They have a lot more fun than
we (adults) do.”
Other
places kids love downtown are the Cape Fear Museum of History and Science, WilmingtonRailroadMuseum,
Cape Fear Serpentarium and Battleship North Carolina.
Sights
Aside from
the obvious visual pleasures such as the sleepily flowing Cape
Fear River, and the shapes of the historic skyline, downtown
offers a visual education if one knows where to find it. Spending an afternoon
with Bob Jenkins will show just about any local that they have a lot to learn
about their home. Jenkins runs Wilmington Adventure Tours and is just like a walking
local history book. His knowledge of the history of downtown Wilmington is matched only by his desire to
preserve it. Jenkins was born in the CapeFear
region and has lived and worked in downtown through many different eras. He
eagerly shares his experiences from his time here as well as the infamous
events of the past.
In
addition to Jenkins’ tour there are multiple other opportunities downtown for
walking tours, such as the very popular Ghost Walk of Old Wilmington and
Haunted Pub Crawl as well as trolley tours, horse-drawn carriage tours and boat
tours. Tours of historic homes are also available.
Another
particularly good local source of information is Captain Carl Marshburn of Cape
Fear Riverboats, who
provides his clients a ride on the river but delivers historical perspective as
a bonus. Having captained riverboats such as the current Henrietta III for 21 years,
the captain has picked up more than a
little knowledge on the history and heritage of downtown Wilmington along the way. Marshburn tells his
clients that when they visit downtown Wilmington
they are “walking where history was made.”
Eats
Downtown Wilmington boasts more than
50 places to eat, and nearly every type of dining can be found here. There are
a multitude of dining options from reasonably priced restaurants like Front StreetBrewery or Slice of Life Pizzeria, to the fine
dining of Deluxe or Caprice Bistro (voted best French restaurant
for the past three years by Encore). Then you have all the chain restaurants
like ... insert cricket chirping here since there are no chains downtown — and
that’s part of the beauty of downtown. A great deal of downtown’s character
comes from the fact that those who run its businesses are actively engaged in
downtown every day.
Shops
As Joan
Loch, owner of Crescent Moon, a handcrafted glass art gallery, will tell you,
“Most times, when you go into a store downtown you’re talking to the owner....
You get the customer service and friendliness here that you don’t get with
chains.”
Like Loch, those who run the businesses of downtown have more than
just finances invested in downtown. Take Jessie Williams at Edge of Urge
Boutique, for example. She has created a name that is recognized
by women all over Wilmington
and beyond by creating her own lines of clothing and a shop built
around her garments. She built her business downtown and depends on Wilmington’s creative class.
Mary Ellen
Golden is another example. Her art gallery, which displays the watercolor
pieces that she creates and the digital artwork that her son creates, has been
among the shops at The Cotton Exchange since 1977. The Golden Gallery is also
dependent on Wilmington’s
vibrant downtown scene.
Downtown
is home to some very specific, niche shops, such as Sambuca Boutique, which
appeals to environmentally and humanitarian-minded shoppers, or Doggone Crazy,
a pet boutique where pets are welcome to come in and peruse the inventory
themselves.
Then
there’s Old Books on Front Street.
Visitors are greeted by owner Gwenyfar Rohler. Rohler had shopped at the book
store since she was two years old and frequented the shop so much that when the
previous owner, Richard Daughtery, was ready to sell the store, he came to
Rohler’s father to explain to him that Gwenyfar needed to be the next owner.
Old Books on Front Street
has 150,000 books (that’s two linear
miles!), and 10,000 of them are priced at one dollar each.
Working Together
The
downtown business owners and nonprofit community (theaters, museums and more)
realize that the success of their businesses and organizations and of downtown depends
on maintaining a healthy cultural
arts community, which is why many of them work together, synergistically
collaborating to add value to
downtown and to provide great experiences to visitors and residents alike.
Restaurants like Front Street Brewery work with Thalian Hall to promote the
events and performances that take place downtown, which in turn brings more
people to other businesses. While they are in the area, perhaps theater-goers
will pick up a piece of original artwork, buy a dress for Saturday night or
take a cruise over to the Battleship. Then they may finish up the night
listening to live music at Front Street
while enjoying a Lumina Lager.
Downtown Wilmington is a community
in the way that communities were intended — where theindividual members collaborate for the benefit
of everyone involved.
How to contact the businesses
listed in this article:
Battleship North Carolina,
1 Battleship Road, www.battleshipnc.com
The Brown Coat Pub & Theatre, 111 grace Street, (910) 341-0001,
www.browncoattheatre.com
CapeFearMuseum of History & Science, 814 Market Street,
(910) 798-4370,
