Excellent journalism, RB. You scooped ’em all. Too bad the developer didn’t think of your idea.

So, so sad to see more buildings with actual history and character torn down to make way for more transplants who don’t give a flip about what the city was like before the day they arrived.

Thanks for this piece–isn’t this the same building that had Mr. Freeze record store on the corner for awhile?

Also, great write up on the history of the buildings in that area.

The 3 blocks south of the Capitol on the east side of Wilmington Street is really the only coherent facade-scape left in Downtown. Fayetteville Street was radically altered decades ago, so only the west side of the 200 block really remains intact.

Speaking to Dave who commented above about growth and the need for change: I cannot disagree that in many cases, buildings must be removed in order to evolve the city. It has happened for millennia with the archeology at Jericho perhaps being one of the most profound that comes immediately to mind. That being said, we are also entering a new era in which we will need to manage our resources more carefully and more creatively. There are plenty of open lots around the City core that could facilitate density. And creative adaptive reuse is ALWAYS good stewardship when we consider the amount of energy in the material and labor already IN PLACE that can be modified, expanded and improved.

I do not believe we should embalm our cities, but we should consider those issues of scale, texture and character (that only time brings with weathering) that RB highlights and strive to integrate the buildings of heritage into our future cityscape.

I was saddened to hear of this–as JZ mentioned, this was the southernmost point of the best preserved row of 19th century storefronts left in Raleigh. One more down and three soon to fall, and in summation a great loss for Raleigh.

I do wonder, though, what’s the story with the adjacent facade–evidently formerly the Fashion Center? I noticed the last time I was in the area, and confirmed via Google maps, that it is indeed *just* a facade. There is no longer an extant building behind it. When did that happen? Also kind of a pity that they went to the trouble to preserve the facade, so as not to segment the block and to leave the “twin” of Reliable Loans, and now it’s about to be lost anyway.

I will weep when Clyde Coopers goes down. Too many great memories of family dinners and hanging out with friends and strangers and anyone who loved that place.

A classic example of the struggle between those who wish to preserve the past and those who wish to wipe it from our memories. Oh that this were that one time when the preservers of the past could prevail just for the sheer novelty. The setback and the retained facade would have added a charm that would attract people to the area, where as another modern “boring” building would just be another building to ignore in another “boring” city center.

Bought my first bedroom set from Rhodes …. just sad to see them demolished after all these years.

As one of those carpetbaggers that Luppus refers to, I have to stand up against stereotype. There are plenty of natives who have for several generations make conscious or unconscious decisions to abandon the heritage of the city core.

This issue is about communication, education and public leadership. Not the place of one’s origin.

I was fortunate to have coffee this week with the building owner, and was amazed to hear his story of the dramatic and urgent effort their team pulled together to try to repair the building while it kept moving, before making the timely and safe choice of a controlled demolition.

It’s a profound question of how to respect a two-story main-street when a property is ready for fifty stories. Foster’s Hearst tower is rare and ironic. But, we do want our memories to last long enough to tell us that what we do today will endure.

Thanks for the well informed and illustrated post.

I’m OK with it. History is great, but we all have to come to terms with the fact that sometimes history gets trumped by the pathway that is necessary for growth. The businesses there now will find a new home… Downtown Raleigh is changing and evolving and this s just another step.

wow….just wow. “Old-School” thanks for that sense of welcome. Let me suggest that the issue is a bit more complicated than you would like it to be. Cameron Village was the first development to take stores, economics and heritage out of lil’ ol’ charming Raleigh. Unless you’re suggesting that ever since 1865 Raleigh’s been on the downhill slide, I THINK that was a community decision. Then there was North Hills back in the 1970s… again, not a huge flood of Yankees if I have my story straight. And lo and behold! What did the local ownership do but board up, shut down, reface (deface) all the old buildings in downtown that the population thought had NO PERCEIVED VALUE. North Carolina-based banks like Wachovia leveled some of those lovely buildings like the old Town Hall on Fayetteville Street. Because the COMMUNITY did not believe they had value.

I simply would like to suggest that the effects you are lamenting have been cumulative. And EVERYONE bears responsibility. The best way to preserve the past is to respect all eras and seek solutions to integrate and reuse, rather than abandon.

As one of those so called carpetbaggers, I arrived in Raleigh nearly 15 years ago and embraced both its past and what I believe to be as a bright future. I live in a 1925 bungalow in Oakdale, work downtown and 70% of my work is facilitating the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of existing buildings in Raleigh as well as other communities in North Carolina. Perhaps you’d like to make an exception for yours truly? But that might mean you will have to go down a slippery slope of accepting SOME responsibility.

Welcome to the public debate that goes on about the constructed landscape of Raleigh. I hope that you’ll continue to voice your concern and find ways to be persuasive and effective. Perhaps a more active, vocal citizenry could have fended off all the marauders from the North and saved this once-lovely Capital…apparently ONLY NOW JUST up in flames.

old-school, JZ very clearly illustrated that this problem began much before the mass migration of the 80s. Therefore, it shouldn’t be pinned on that group of people. Furthermore, the issue of tearing down historic structures doesn’t appear to be related to where you are from. Hope this helps.

Thanks for writing about the 300 block of Wilmington St. and especially the recent loss of the building on the corner of Martin and Wilmington. I was having dinner at The Mecca the night demolition began on that building. I stepped outside to watch the sad spectacle and noticed that Greg Hatem was standing next to me. We agreed that it was very sad to watch.
I live on that block, at The Hudson, and I grew up in Raleigh. There’s been far too much destruction of old buildings here, and it was startling to see that the destruction continues. Mr. Horowitz who owns Reliable Loan once took me upstairs one of the buildings at the southern end of the block, specifically the one closest to the parking deck. He said it was a dance hall at one time. It basically consists of one large room with a nice, solid wood floor, two large skylights, high, stamped-tin ceilings, etc. A beautiful space it is, and it’ll be sad to see that go as well. It’s a shame that these buildings can’t, as you say RB, be incorporated into the new design for the block. Anyway, thanks for writing.

The second floor of the building demolished (303-1/2 South Wilmington) was my grandfather’s office from 1925 – 1940 (Parker Brothers Cotton Company; there’s a sign on the doorway in the photo of the building taken in the early 1920’s). The business was started after the Civil War by my great grandfather, Marcellus Aurelius Parker, and continuously operated at various locations on South Wilmington Street until the 1940’s. For many years, both before the streets were paved and after, farmers from the area hauled cotton on horse drawn wagons into Raleigh to sell to brokers, who would warehouse and re-sell the cotton to the mills.