ROCKINGHAM — Foam bubbles from Harrington Square’s fountain, as much a symbol to the recovery of a once-deteriorated downtown as the construction cranes that pierce the sky. Once vacant store fronts boast new signage and new life. There is an energy, a heartbeat, as a myriad of economic endeavors have acted as a defibrillator to a downtown restoration that is still in its infancy.
Ray Kinsella, a fictional character in the movie “Field of Dreams,” was told by a mysterious voice from an adjoining corn field, “If you build it, they will come.” A consortium of local business interests and volunteers took that phrase to heart.
John Hutchinson, president of the Rockingham Downtown Corporation pointed out that businesses and residents alike were concerned about the quality of life in downtown Rockingham.
“The Council has kind of had the attitude that if it’s good for the city, we want to be behind it,” said Hutchinson, who doubles as a Rockingham City Councilman.
“There was a loose relationship between the city and the Rockingham Downtown Corporation,” Hutchinson remembers. “We never really sat down together to say this is what we need, but the two groups were interested in the same end.”
Richmond County also boasts two local philanthropic foundations. The Cole Foundation was funded by the late Robert L. and Elisabeth S. Cole, children of William B. Cole, majority owner of the Hannah Pickett Mill. The Community Foundation of Richmond County’s funds originated from proceeds from the sale of the former hospital to FirstHealth. Those two foundations have proven to provide extraordinary financial impacts on the county at large.
In the Beginning
First came the baby steps, or in this case, the thousands of children that visit Discovery Place KIDS (DPK) at 223 E. Washington St.
“It really started with a chit chat,” said Brian Collier, executive vice president of the Foundation of the Carolinas.
It’s that foundation which acts as a clearinghouse of sorts for both the Cole Foundation board and the Community Foundation of Richmond County. Those organizations are managed by a local board of directors and boast resources of approximately $30 million each.
“John Mackey,” then director of Discovery Place in Charlotte, “was looking to expand the center’s reach outside of the city,” Collier explained. “He mentioned a number of other communities and I just happened to ask if he would ever consider a small town where the impact of a children’s museum would be exponentially larger,” Collier said. “Could a museum make a difference in the trajectory of a town?”
Collier’s “what if” turned into a feasibility study to see if the numbers would crunch, with Rockingham as the proposed site.
For Collier, Rockingham and Richmond County have always been kind a personal “love affair.” “It started with Kyle and Richard Petty promoting their Victory Junction Camp,” Collier explained. Located in Randolph County and designated for children with serious illness, the camp provides a respite from their health concerns.
“I got to know Rockingham and Richmond County through the NASCAR track and it kind of broke my heart when they lost that race,” he said.
The result of a unique public/private partnership, Discovery Place opened in 2013 in the former Mackenzie Furniture Building and is one of four in the state and one of only two outside of Charlotte. Today, children from throughout the region, the state and the country have experienced the hands-on lessons in learning offered by DPK.
Discovery Place KIDS was purchased and maintained for the city at a cost of $305,000 and operated by the Charlotte-based nonprofit. was one of the first projects cofounded by a triumvirate of foundations.
The Cole Foundation, with monies managed by the Foundation of the Carolinas, and the Community Foundation of Richmond County allocated $6 million of the $12 million price tag. The Levine Foundation, named after the founder of Family Dollar, added $2 million more and a local capital campaign funded the remaining balance.
Schools from throughout North Carolina bus children to the vibrant purple and yellow center lining Washington Street. With streets teaming with preteens — more than 33,000 annually — city representatives recognized the need for a place for students to congregate and eat when visiting from out of town, Hutchinson explained.
The Steele Building, a then-vacant structure directly across Washington Street was demolished after it was deemed unsafe and beyond restoration. The $1.3 million in funding to rebuild came from the Cole Foundation and the Community Foundation of Richmond County, working through the Charlotte-based Foundation of the Carolinas. The city paid for the design and construction of what is now a popular downtown dining location in Pattan’s Downtown Grille.
The city’s dollars were paid, in part, by proceeds from the sale of cell tower leases ($240,000 and $300,000 in lease proceeds), keeping tax dollars from funding the construction. Renamed Hitchcock Place, the city sought out potential restaurants and Tim Pattan, according to Hutchinson, was willing to take the risk in leasing the building from the city and providing a full-service dining experience.
The other anchor
If Discovery Place KIDS was the impetus behind the vision of a downtown resurrection, Richmond Community College’s satellite campus may be the incubator. It all started with a visit that has evolved into a multi-partner investment into the city’s future. Representatives from the region’s community foundation boards and Richmond Community College took a site visit to Hartsville, South Carolina, a bucolic community with a bustling downtown presence.
Hartsville, like Rockingham, has a population of approximately 8,000 with similar demographics in income, age and employment. Hartsville also boasts Coker University with its 1,200 students in the center of the downtown district.
According to Dale McInnis, president of RCC for the past 9-and-a-half years, foundation and city representatives were impressed. The mayor and the council wondered “what if we built a building on the former RW Goodman site,” McGinnis recalled. RW Goodman was located across from the county courthouse and adjacent to downtown interests. Beginning in October of 2018, demolition began. Now under development is a 44,000 square foot business and information technology center with square footage available to grow as demand from employers increases.
Named the Kenneth and Claudia Robinette Building and Levine School of Business Information Technology, the Community Foundation, Cole Foundation and Levine Foundation – which provided $1 million for naming rights — provided $9 million in support. Family Dollar, it should be noted, traces its beginnings to the building now occupied by Hudson Brothers, adjacent to the college site. Richmond County is supporting the school with a $225,000 annual investment, covering maintenance, utility and custodial services. The City of Rockingham used a $2.6 million USDA loan and the college is leasing the building from the city with the property owned by the Board of Trustees.
“The city is the builder and the owner of the property today and is building it on behalf of the college,” McInnis explained.
The building will boast two wings, with a pharmacy tech program nearest to the Hudson Brothers building and workforce economic development and personal enrichment in the other wing. Completion was initially set for December but is now expected to be finished by February 2020. RCC, according to McInnis, serves three general missions: to provide college transferable courses and general education, to provide health care training and the third is to provide engineering training and offer a trade school.
“We’re excited about (the college) going there,” Community Foundation of Richmond County Chairman Frank Jenkins said. “Whatever happens there will not only revitalize the town but be good for the whole county.”
Jenkins grew up in the county and his auto parts store currently is celebrating 60 years serving the residents.
“I drive through downtown every night on the way home,” Jenkins said, “and it used to just be dark and empty. Now, when I go home, cars line both sides of the street and lights are on. It’s such a huge transition and I can’t help but have a little smile and be thankful we had a little something to do about it.”
Still, there is more to be done. “We’ve got (Discovery Place) on one end and the college expansion on the other. It’s my hope that people will continue to invest and fill in the middle.”
The rest of the story
Pattan’s isn’t the only city-owned restoration project in the downtown Rockingham region. Faced with a deteriorating fine arts facility, the city purchased the community theatre building and performed multiple restoration from structural to seating.
There city has heard interest over recent months in the former Food King building at 305 E. Washington. Vacant since January 2017, for 45 years the building was a grocery destination for mid-city residents. Upon the store’s closing the community immediately suggested other possibilities — another grocery store or maybe an ice-skating rink, movie theatre, a shared retail space. New HVAC, flooring as well as exterior landscape is part of a $60,000 city investment and, once restored, is intended to act as an anchor to the retail district.
“Richmond County is unique in that it has people committed to improving lives,” Collier said. “There is a sense of optimism there. Many other counties seem to live in the mindset that they want things returned to what it was like 30-50 years ago and they can’t get that out of their head.”
Collier wants Richmond County to not continue to fall victim to the trend that hurts so many rural areas: young people seeking out big-city life. To do this, he said the county needs to not target young people who are preparing to leave but for when they are looking to start families of their own. Community Foundation of Richmond County president Frank Jenkins believes the pieces are falling place to do just that, noting the foundation should not be the starting place, but the cherry on top in finding funding.
“My challenge to the community is to not stop with the Discovery Place KIDS or the college but to take the next step,” Collier said. “What would a city or town look like if you did everything where a child could grow up with the best parks, the best schools, the best libraries, the best colleges?”
