SUNDAY
HIGH POINT HEROES: Past leaders honored with exhibit. 1B
August 29, 2010 127th year No. 241
ASSAULTS IN AFGHANISTAN: Militants posing as Americans storm 2 bases. 4A
www.hpe.com High Point, N.C.
RUNNING HARD: Cowboys set blistering early pace. 3D
50 Cents Daily $1.25 Sundays
City becomes college football central for a day BY PAUL B. JOHNSON ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
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Dr. Lucas P. Neff, research resident for Wake Forest University Health Sciences, was awarded the American Vascular Association Resident Research Award for his research in vascular disease and tissue engineering.
See more coverage. Sports
was taking on Winston-Salem State in the debut football game this season for both schools. Mims, who’s from Charlotte, follows Virginia Union to each game, especially this year for his son’s senior season. The offensive
DON DAVIS JR. | HPE
Donnell Garrett of Chapel Hill and Tim Price of Durham prepare food for their tailgating crew of six, prior to the game between Winston-Salem State University and Virginia Union University.
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MOVING ON: 5 years later, residents slowly rebuild from Katrina. 1F
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HIGH POINT – Davvie Mims, his relatives and friends enjoyed the perfect spot for tailgating Saturday afternoon, within shouting distance of Simeon Stadium. Mims, the father of Virginia Union University standout football player David Mims, was relaxing in the shade of trees before the inaugural Winston-Salem State University Furniture City Gridiron Classic. His son’s team
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OBITUARIES
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Lee Brown, 87 Jack Cecil, 86 Rose Floyd, 79 Helen Johnson, 82 Jeffrey Jones, 47 June McGhee, 74 Raymond Pierce, 82 William Price, 95 Daron Skeen, 39 Bobby Spry Sr., 70 Glenn Walton, 78 Judy Whitley, 60 P. Zimmerman, 76 Obituaries, 2A,2-3B
WEATHER
– BILLIE E. BUSKIRK | SPECIAL TO HPE
BILLIE E. BUSKIRK | SPECIAL TO HPE
Nancy Rothrock and Pamela Dobbins Stern will partner with hopes of making a vacant building downtown more attractive to potential buyers.
This artist’s rendering by Nancy Rothrock demonstrates what can be done to attract developers to vacant downtown buildings.
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First in a two-part series on a proposal to beautify downtown through the use of artwork on vacant buildings.
Sprucing up downtown, one building at a time
BLANK CANVAS Helping downtown through art ■■■
BY VICKI KNOPFLER ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
HIGH POINT – Pamela Dobbins Stern’s memories of downtown High Point when she was a child made her a crusader. The boarded-up, empty buildings downtown – to put it simply – make her sick, she said. “I just don’t like them sitting there empty, and if you don’t like it, do something,” she said. Stern has a plan to do something, starting with one building at a time. She will begin after Labor Day working on the facade of a for-sale building on the east side of the 100 block of N. Main Street. Her plan includes creating a partial false front that can display facial portraits of High Pointers by local mural artist Nancy Rothrock. Her aim is to make the building more attractive and draw attention to it in hopes it will sell to someone who will maintain a business there. “They were the best memories of my life,” Stern said of going downtown when she was
a child. “I remember Belk Department Store, Wilson’s Shoes, the building with the eye doctor upstairs and the pharmacy downstairs, I remember going to Kress and Richardson’s department store. That was my first job; my sister and brother and I worked there at the same time. It was exciting, knowing we were going to get in the car and go downtown. We had our portraits made at Belk, and we still have those. “It breaks my heart to see it
now.” Stern’s father, J.D. Dobbins, was president of First Federal Savings and Loan, which was where BB&T bank is now. On Sundays, the Dobbins kids would play in the break room at the bank while their father did paperwork. Now, few High Pointers have reason to go downtown, and Stern for years has been trying to change that. In 2006, she bought the Big Bureau at N. Hamilton Street and Westwood Avenue because plans were for it to be torn down. She carried out cosmetic work on the building, and she hopes to sell it to someone who will honor its history. Last year, she began fighting city plans for a downtown showroom district, and in the end the plan was abandoned. In the process of arguing against the district, an informal group that calls itself The Downtown District sprang up. Its members champion the downtown area, and it is through the group that Stern will undertake the project to
YOUR COMMUNITY. YOUR NEWSPAPER.
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SERIES BREAKOUTS
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TODAY: Woman has plan to beautify downtown with artwork, one vacant building at a time MONDAY: Businesses, community leaders get on board
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Pam Stern has a plan for revitalization. 3A
make the building look more appealing. She has full approval of the owner. Stern owns Move It! Makeovers, a business that goes into homes or businesses for sale or showroom – anyplace, really – and spruces up the interior, exterior or surrounding area. Some of her employees will provide labor for the project. Stern will donate her time and resources, and she readily admits that in addition to improving downtown High Point visually, another goal is to bring herself business somewhere down the road. “I bought the Bureau, and nobody helped me, and I figure if I help people with their property, it will make mine more valuable,” she said. “I just think if somebody doesn’t do something to start the ball rolling, well, you’ve got to start somewhere.” vknopfler@hpe.com | 888-3601
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