ROCKINGHAM — The end of the iconic R.W. Goodman building — and its namesake’s neighboring property — began Monday morning with wrecking crews methodically picking apart the building’s aging facade.
The demolition of the Long Building, as the building torn down Monday is known, and the rest of the properties on that corner short of Hudson Brothers Deli, will continue into the week, followed by construction of a new campus for Richmond Community College. The campus will be built where the store now stands, occupying 44,000 square feet.
The new structure will be named the Kenneth and Claudia Robinette Building and will house the Leon Levine School of Business and Information Technology. Classes are expected to begin downtown in fall 2019.
“It’s nice to see progress,” said Assistant City Manager John Massey, one of many onlookers Monday morning.
When workers started preliminary work last week, Jerry Taylor stopped across the street, seemingly watching a reel of memories in his mind. A Rockingham native, Taylor, 67, said he had fond memories of shopping at Goodman’s during his early years and called R.W. Goodman a “real nice guy.”
“I’m glad to see it being used — being put to good use,” said Taylor, whose brother works at RCC as a groundskeeper. “I think it’ll help downtown.”
Every car that drove by Monday contained a rubbernecker, and many people stopped to take pictures or video of the scene.
One of those was Charles Deane, former state senator and school board member, father to Rockingham City Council member Bennett Deane and now a member of the Cole Foundation. Though confined to a wheelchair and having difficulty speaking, Deane watched every scoop of the tractors Monday morning, Mayor Steve Morris said.
Deane, a meticulous collector of Richmond County history, is unable to speak, but he drew the letters “L L” in the air to communicate that he had worked for Leon Levine as a child.
“This is three years of a dream coming true — that many more kids in this area are going to have a different education and feed into the workforce,” Morris said.
While some saw history being made, at least one saw dollar signs.
Steve Teeters, who owns four properties in downtown Rockingham, said he had been waiting two years for the moment and was doing his weekly check on the project Monday morning when he saw the action.
He said he expected the campus to increase the property values on his empty buildings.
“Being that close to an $11 million school has got to help,” Teeters said.
