{"id":41,"date":"2019-01-06T21:47:27","date_gmt":"2019-01-06T21:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chrisgent.news\/?page_id=41"},"modified":"2019-04-21T18:36:39","modified_gmt":"2019-04-21T18:36:39","slug":"the-new-era-reviving-main-street-living","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/chrisgent.news\/index.php\/the-new-era-reviving-main-street-living\/","title":{"rendered":"THE NEW ERA: REVIVING MAIN STREET LIVING"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

High Point is in transition. While furniture is still a force, a hospital, a college campus and a new stadium are anchoring the city\u2019s hope for year-round change. But some millennials are skeptical downtown will be their go-to place to hang out.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHEN DR. NIDO QUBEIN GRADUATED FROM HIGH POINT COLLEGE IN 1970,<\/strong> his yearbook was stocked with prototypical campus memories. Flip through \u201cThe Zenith\u201d and there\u2019s a \u201cspring fever\u201d section, with students venturing to City Lake for a picnic, or McDonald\u2019s for a burger. Back then, the fast food giant\u2019s claim to fame was \u201cover five billion sold.\u201d On \u201centertainment\u201d and \u201chappenings\u201d pages, the student union hosted a  psychedelic light show. Admission: 50 cents. The basketball team had a long season, but still netted a full-page spot, with a brief cameo by current Head Coach Tubby Smith. Buried toward the back was a mention of America\u2019s pastime \u2013 a half-empty set of bleachers, with a half-hearted caption: \u201cwarm weather and baseball attracts students.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of all campus\nbuildings, Roberts Hall is still the crown jewel. Anchoring the 1970 Zenith \u201cscenery\u201d\npage, the college\u2019s oldest structure stood \u201ctall and dignified.\u201d Almost 50\nyears later, so does Qubein inside his presidential suite. The elegant clock\ntower above him keeps tabs as High Point University grows like crazy. Since becoming\nleader of his alma mater in 2005, Qubein stewarded the campus\u2019 growth in size (91\nto 460 acres) and student body (1,450 to 5,200 undergraduates). He runs a tight\nschedule, but looks relaxed, donning a navy pinstripe suit and a Carolina blue\ntie. His royal blue, gold-plated cufflinks stick out like diamonds, strong\nenough to keep his sleeves and downtown revitalization plans together. His\noffice is the size of a studio apartment, with room to park a fashionable\nMartone bicycle, painted in signature purple and white school colors. His desk is\nbookended by American flags, a freeze frame resembling the White House Oval Office.\nIt\u2019s just after 4 p.m. on a dreary, drizzly Wednesday, but Qubein\u2019s energy rivals\nthe morning sun as he wraps up an email. \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful campus you have\nhere,\u201d I say, as soft music fills the room. \u201cThank<\/em> you, sir,\u201d he replies\nconfidently, knowing his moves made the amenities possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We shift toward a small conference table, with red leather chairs you could call home for hours. The surface is littered with \u201cAtlantic League\u201d baseballs, and in 100 days, the High Point Rockers will throw out one of these at their inaugural home game. Qubein didn\u2019t come up with the stadium plan, but he\u2019s carrying it across the finish line. For decades, High Point has tried to inject life into its downtown. In 1961, as the furniture and hosiery industries started to peak, the \u201cdowntown development committee\u201d first sketched out a \u201cplan for action.\u201d \u201cA prosperous CBD is everyone\u2019s concern,\u201d read page three. In 2013, \u201cIgnite High Point\u201d entertained discussions with world-renowned Cuban architect Andr\u00e9s Duany. But as urban sociologist and DePaul University Professor John Joe Schlichtman argued<\/a> in a Feb. 2019 Greensboro News & Record<\/em> op-ed, Duany and other consultants \u201cwere never able to grasp the depth of what was occurring in High Point during their short visits.\u201d Duany’s plans ruffled feathers, especially \u201cpink code\u201d zones where rules would be loosened to help start new businesses. Qubein turned out to be a superior force, surpassing a name whose firm designed a building in the opening credits of Miami Vice. In 2017, \u201cForward High Point,\u201d the latest iteration of downtown re-development, asked Qubein to deliver a keynote address at the High Point Country Club. They had the idea for a team, but he says they didn\u2019t have the money, or the drive. \u201cThis is about community pride,\u201d Qubein tells me, never teetering off message. \u201cThis is not about a ball park. This is about the transformation of downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dr. Nido Qubein, President of High Point University, pictured in January 2019 at his campus office. A man of cautious optimism, he sees the arrival of the High Point Rockers baseball team as a risk worth taking.
(Photo by Chris Gentilviso)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ideas began to mushroom. What about a children\u2019s museum? Or an events center? Qubein\u2019s optimism quickly met the reality of costs. \u201cI said, \u2018I volunteer to raise the money,\u2019\u201d he remembers. \u201cSo that, of course, got big headlines in newspapers.\u201d Raising millions was not a new hurdle for him \u2013 one of many, starting with his journey to America. Born in Lebanon in 1948, Qubein\u2019s father died when he was six years old. At age 17, he flew from Jordan to the U.S. with $50 in his pocket. Qubein knew little English and, to pay his way through college, made money delivering motivational speeches at churches and civic events. He traversed the back roads of North Carolina, making connections in the faith community. Those ties helped him shift from an associate\u2019s degree at Mount Olive College, to a home address. In the 1969 Zenith, \u201cNidal Raji Qubein\u201d is listed at \u201c211 Louise Avenue, High Point, N.C.\u201d \u2013 native status, footsteps from Main Street. By 1970, he went by \u201cNido\u201d in the yearbook. He met the right people, led by the inimitable Bill Horney, a local business owner and longtime economic development force, who died in 2018 at age 101. \u201cPeople liked him,\u201d said Horney in an Oct. 2003 <\/a>News & Record <\/a><\/em>profile<\/a> of Qubein. \u201cHe was so enthusiastic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qubein\u2019s enthusiasm is now the glue of High Point\u2019s future. Many moments are stashed in the president\u2019s office \u2013 honorary degrees, awards and photos with celebrities from Condoleezza Rice to Josh Groban. But what\u2019s most important? Qubein gets up and walks toward a map of campus, spreads his hands wide and says \u201cThis!\u201d He knows the Recession was particularly painful for North Carolina\u2019s Triad region. From 1990 to 2010, High Point\u2019s population<\/a> grew from 69,428 to 104,371 people. But the portion of workers in the labor force fell from 68.8 percent to 66.5 percent. Qubein\u2019s doing his part by churning out more college-educated employees. He invested more than $1 billion in new classroom buildings and programs at HPU, such as communications, pharmacy and engineering. The school is a fixture in U.S. News & World Report<\/a><\/em>\u2019s heralded rankings<\/a>: best regional college in the South (2013-19) and most innovative college in the South (2016-19). \u201cUltimately, I believe in two simple English words,\u201d he says. \u201cResults rule.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But reviving downtown High Point is Qubein\u2019s biggest challenge yet. His r\u00e9sum\u00e9 includes board positions with BB&T bank, Great Harvest Bread Company, and La-Z-Boy furniture. His BB&T ties helped secure a 15-year, $7.5 million naming rights agreement for the stadium. But earlier in the day, a major local developer, Roy Carroll, pulled out of a deal to build a hotel. Qubein doesn\u2019t flinch, and instead writes. \u201cJudy, bring in a copy of the op-ed for Chris, please.\u201d She hands me a printout. \u201cInnovation is sometimes messy,\u201d reads the first sentence of the Jan. 26 <\/a>News & Record<\/a><\/em> piece<\/a>. The city pulled together $36 million in borrowed bonds to build the stadium. Qubein helped HPU raise $375 million<\/a> over his tenure, so who\u2019s counting? He steered $100 million in private money to support projects around the field. The baseball operation, the children\u2019s museum and the new event center will all rest in 501c3s \u2013 nonprofits considered charities, which are exempt from taxes. Qubein vows no one around him will make a penny. But he still wakes up every morning with what he calls cautious optimism, until the vision is complete. \u201cIf it was easy, anybody could do it,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd we\u2019re not looking for easy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When fans pile into the Rockers\u2019 home opener on May 2, 2019, it will mark a new day in High Point \u2013 a multi-purpose facility well beyond what students in those half-empty 1970 park bleachers could have expected. Qubein counts his fingers, one by one \u2013 the uniforms, the team office desks and chairs, even the garbage cans. \u201cAll of that \u2013 all of which is money I raised.\u201d The music overhead shifts from soft to jazzy, as if the speakers know he helped sell out luxury boxes for the Rockers\u2019 inaugural season. At age 70, Qubein says he no longer wants to display awards. He seeks experiences, moments that come to life, at a baseball game perhaps. \u201cMoney doesn\u2019t grow on trees, but people become the branches,\u201d I say, a pitch for his next book of motivational quotes (he handed me a copy on the way out). \u201cYes!\u201d he replies. \u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

INSIDE THE STRING & SPLINTER CLUB<\/strong>, Qubein\u2019s bullish actions are driving the buzz. Fifty years ago, \u201cChamber Cheers\u201d would have been dominated by an inner circle of white, male furniture and hosiery leaders. Tonight is different. The Chamber of Commerce is celebrating its 100th<\/sup> year, and while the sidewalks along High Avenue are desolate, the String & Splinter Club is bustling with vintage charm. Guests are met with a red carpet at the entrance, an accessory that would pass in Hollywood. Olde English lettering on the front awning gives off an exclusive vibe, and inside, the feel of importance persists. Members mingle in private rooms holding 10 to 80 guests, equipped with plush, crimson red armchairs, oriental rugs, southern menu favorites and a front-and-back wine list. Just on the other side of the Amtrak tracks, massive cranes are moving steel beams into place to set up the seats at BB&T Point stadium. The yellow foul poles are up and the baseball diamond is on its way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up on the second floor, Brittany Butterworth is tearing off drink\ntickets, directing guests to hang their coats and keeping the \u201cChamber Cheers\u201d\ntrains moving. She\u2019s full of energy, as her event photography business serves\nas lead sponsor for the new happy hour series, which just turned two. In the\nbackground, \u201cMiss Nicki\u201d Skipper makes sure the tables are set. She\u2019s\napproaching her fourth anniversary as general manager of the String &\nSplinter. Before moving into this picturesque space in 1983, no women were\nadmitted. \u201cWe are, and it\u2019s\nnot a secret, please spread the word,\u201d Miss Nicki tells the crowd of about 50\nguests. \u201cWe are where the City of High Point leaders meet since 1957 \u2026 And\nplease see Will. He\u2019s dying to pour you a glass of wine, or pop you a beer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the New Year, and while the smell of the hors-d’oeuvres is making stomachs growl, folks are committed to reach their resolutions inside the gym. Hilton Ferguson of Full Time Fitness is a chiseled black man, with long, tight dreadlocks and a wide smile. His neck is thick, his physique capable of training the best athletes out there. \u201cAll right, hello, hello, hel-loooooo!\u201d <\/em>he projects out into the crowd.\u201cHow are you folks doing? I see a lot of familiar faces here.\u201d Full Time Fitness is a familiar name in High Point, but a decent drive from downtown. About seven miles north on Highway 68 is the Palladium, a sprawling strip mall, with a free-standing Belk department store, a 14-screen Regal movie theater, a Starbucks, a Chick-fil-A and more. Ferguson and his wife, Kit-Tena, are the exact type of business owners missing from the downtown fabric. The closest gym in the downtown area is inside Wake Forest Baptist Hospital. Unless you\u2019re a hospital worker (the city\u2019s top employer in 2018), it\u2019s an unorthodox place to head for a post-work yoga class or boot camp. \u201cThe CDC recommends we do about 150 minutes of exercise per week,\u201d Hilton says wryly, with a smile. \u201cSo, it\u2019s Thursdayyyy<\/em>.\u201d The crowd bursts into laughter. \u201cHow many people have done 75 <\/em>minutes of exercise thus far? Ok, that\u2019s good. Anybody at 100 <\/em>yet?\u201d The groans drown out the chuckles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s a groan of optimism. Just five years ago, a new HPU professor wandered onto city-data.com<\/a>, seeking advice on rentals in downtown High Point. \u201cSomething like an above-storefront loft or apartment,\u201d the note read. \u201cI\u2019ve spent the last few weeks trying to search for options \u2013 I\u2019ve even \u201cGoogle mapped\u201d myself up and down the streets, looking for \u201cFor Lease\u201d signs in second-story windows — but to no avail.\u201d A few replies down, one comment warns: \u201cYou will discover HPU is a very, very nice compound with its huge brick and rail fence that screams \u2018keep out!\u2019 Although HPU has exploded in growth in recent years the city surrounding the campus has little to offer. Good luck to you!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tonight, there are signs of what the city has to offer \u2013 an entrepreneurial Main Street, where an event photographer and a personal trainer anchor the first 2019 Chamber of Commerce conversation. There\u2019s a younger generation sharing wedding photos online and forking over money for a gym membership. Next year, around 200 rental apartments were slated for construction. This is Qubein\u2019s vision of fellowship \u2013 a place where friends gather and make their own kind of connections, just like he did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                                                                        ***<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

IT\u2019S JUST BEFORE 8 P.M. AND QUEEN\u2019S \u201cFAT BOTTOMED GIRLS\u201d CAN BE HEARD HALFWAY DOWN SPRING GARDEN STREET<\/strong>. The parking lot is already full at Jake\u2019s Billiards, so I\u2019m lucky enough to grab a spot near the curb. After the crowd wound down at Chamber Cheers last week, I took Miss Nicki\u2019s advice and got to talking with Will. He warned places close early in High Point and wasn\u2019t kidding. Brown Truck Brewery<\/a> shuts down on Fridays at 11 p.m. Blue Rock Pizza<\/a> was also open only until 11 p.m. What about Blue Bourbon Jacks<\/a> or HPU hotspot After Hours Tavern,<\/a> which actually stayed open until last call? About an hour earlier, Will texted me, \u201cWe\u2019re thinking downtown Greensboro for overall ease tonight.\u201d Exactly 59 years ago, four African-American students from North Carolina A&T made history<\/a>, staging a sit-in for civil rights at the Woolworth\u2019s lunch counter. Today, Elm Street was the strip of bars and restaurants where all of us, no matter how we looked, kept the fun going until 2 a.m. I grabbed a room at the Hampton Inn down by the coliseum for the night. Will\u2019s friend, Curtis, took an Uber from nearby Randleman, and Will\u2019s dad gave them a lift from his house in Jamestown. His address is close enough to the border that \u201cHigh Point\u201d works in Google Maps, too. Three cars and three rides later, we were all here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I walked up the steps at Jake\u2019s, the corn hole courts were packed with people, sipping drinks and throwing their best tosses. More than a dozen TVs rotated between Friday night basketball games that might as well have been on mute. Queen\u2019s greatest hits were gradually replaced by grungier punk rock. We were footsteps from the UNC-Greensboro campus, where Qubein received his master’s degree<\/a> in business in the early 1970s. Over the last 15 years, much has changed. Greensboro was the first city in North Carolina\u2019s Piedmont Triad to use minor league baseball as an economic catalyst. About two miles down the road, the Greenway at Stadium Park apartments<\/a> line the outfield fence of First National Bank Field<\/a>. Starting at $1,425 per month, it\u2019s where \u201cluxury and elegance meet sophistication,\u201d the rental website reads. Across the street, Millennials sip beers on the patio of Joymongers Brewing Company<\/a>, a small-batch shop owned by Greensboro natives. Winston-Salem repeated the recipe in 2010 with its own stadium, BB&T Ballpark<\/a>. Now there are chic lofts for rent, and local caf\u00e9 hideaways like Krankies<\/a>, a converted meatpacking space. Why not High Point too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChris!\u201d yells Will at a low-lying picnic table off to the left. He just got off a shift at the String & Splinter, trading in the all-black bartender\u2019s uniform for light tan khakis, a red polo and chukka boots. Like Qubein, his hair is neatly parted, and at age 25, he is the ideal alum for HPU \u2013 an area native, a bachelor\u2019s and M.B.A. holder, and a person who wants to live and work in the region. But when Will hears about the new apartments being built near BB&T Point stadium, he doubts one of those addresses is a fit for him. His mom walked out during his freshman year in college. He didn\u2019t want to get into numbers, but \u201cmy student loan, my car loan, everything associated with that, living expenses to go out on the weekend, go out on dates,\u201d he says. \u201cI would have zero money left at the end of the month if I paid all of that plus $700, $800 in rent. It makes so much more sense to live in my dad\u2019s four-bedroom house for free and just clean the place once a week for him.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Will (right) lines up a shot at Jake’s Billiards in Greensboro. He’s not convinced the downtown catalyst project will offer much for millennials where it counts: good-paying jobs and an affordable place to live.
(Photo by Chris Gentilviso)<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Curtis can\u2019t argue. That\u2019s why he stays in the country. Just under six-feet tall, he\u2019s a broad-shouldered guy, with a clean-cut beard, Native American roots and southern accent. Like Qubein, the 29-year-old weathered a difficult journey to get here. He fell into homelessness, declared himself emancipated and survived as an unaccompanied youth. After working his way through high school and community college, Curtis has his business degree from UNCG, so Jake\u2019s is familiar turf. He lights a cigarette and looks into the background. As Market brings in billions of dollars year, he insists there\u2019s still so much money to be made working in High Point\u2019s furniture scene. He hears the critics who say millennials don\u2019t work the same way older generations did. But no matter how much you grind, the rewards seem harder to find. Right now, he\u2019s on hiatus from showrooms, working for a moving company. \u201cThere\u2019s people who don\u2019t want to work and there\u2019s people who will bust their ass off and barely get paid,\u201d he tells me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tonight is a celebration of sorts, so we were really hoping a booth would open up for dinner soon. About four years ago, Will and Curtis met while working in the Asian Loft showroom during Market. They became friends and are committed to ideas for more off-peak business, including joining an association that plans events to lure in designers. Will\u2019s hard work as a bartender at the String & Splinter led Miss Nicki to promote him to administrative assistant \u2013 a better deal for now. Showroom job hours are long and the pay tends to be low. Unlike Qubein, Will and Curtis don\u2019t have connections to get to the top \u2013 yet. To make it in furniture, you have to be in sales, or part-ownership or be a good enough designer to have your face on a billboard during market, they say. \u201cInstead of passing the torch on to someone younger and teaching and spending a lot of money to get you there to move on and take over\u2026\u201d Will says. \u201cNo upward mobility for people our age?\u201d I ask. \u201cVery tough,\u201d he replies. \u201cVery tough.\u201d Curtis dives into his plate of quesadillas. I burn my tongue on a piping hot fried pickle. Will\u2019s chicken fingers are doused in BBQ sauce, just the way he wanted them. \u201cCheers!\u201d we yell as we raise our glasses. The food and pool table were worth the wait. Jake\u2019s was the kind of place worth driving, even if it was a bit far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I lost track of how many other places we went to during the course of the night, but tried to keep count by Uber ride. The first one took us back to Jake\u2019s after we put my car away for safekeeping. The driver could have been a former mayor \u2013 a soft-spoken black man who lived in the area for 47 years. He had no idea the Rockers were coming to High Point, but figured we were spenders tonight. \u201cWe used to drink in the Walmart parking lot, which was a lot cheaper,<\/em>\u201d he says. The second brought us downtown to Boxcar Bar + Arcade<\/a>, a monstrous hotspot with 100 games, 24 beers on tap, cups of free popcorn and piping hot pizza on the patio. It opened last April, and somehow, Greensboro<\/a> had one before Durham<\/a>. The driver was around our age and got us there quickly. Another friend, Cody, who joined us midway through the night, grabbed his number. I didn\u2019t understand why until around 2 a.m., when we needed that third-and-final ride, and hit a bit of a bind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully the guys filled up on two pizzas before we headed home. Surge pricing was through the roof, at around 25 bucks just to get back to my hotel. Randleman was another 15 miles away. Gate City Boulevard was a ghost town at this hour \u2013 gas stations and auto body shops, mixed in with UNCG apartments and hints of gentrification, like a new greenway. We passed one building and saw a light on in a first-floor unit, as well as a head of hair sticking out from under a pillow. \u201cThat\u2019s not a good idea,\u201d Will says. We all knew those open blinds were vulnerable. Curtis was dying to order the Uber, but if we got a little closer to Jake\u2019s, the bill would drop down to 15 bucks. We kept walking, and walking, and walking. Cody sang the Beach Boys\u2019 \u201cI Get Around!\u201d to pass the ride wait time. My Apple Watch, which rarely gets any activity after midnight, was already at 5,000 steps. I slipped Will a $20 bill for the ride and we all hung out inside the hotel for a few minutes, until the next Uber came. It ended up being the same driver who just dropped us off. Will was headed back to his dad\u2019s house in Jamestown. Curtis and Cody were splitting the ride to Randleman. This was easiest, for now. I kept thinking about something Curtis said earlier about furniture, wondering if it applied to nightlife too. You really can\u2019t believe anything in High Point until you see it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

High Point is in transition. While furniture is still a force, a hospital, a college campus and a new stadium are anchoring the city\u2019s hope for year-round change. But some millennials are skeptical downtown will be their go-to place to hang out. *** WHEN DR. … Continue readingTHE NEW ERA: REVIVING MAIN STREET LIVING<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-41","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chrisgent.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/41","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chrisgent.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chrisgent.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chrisgent.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chrisgent.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"http:\/\/chrisgent.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/41\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":262,"href":"http:\/\/chrisgent.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/41\/revisions\/262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chrisgent.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}