Story and photos by Lindsey Chester. Above, Havana Grill owner Robert Cardoso.
Cary, NC – A tropical oasis is exactly what Havana Grill owner Robert Cardoso set about to create when he opened his restaurant in 2007. Read more
Story and photo by Leslie Huffman
Cary, NC – The Historic Heater House, at 120 Dry Avenue, was built in 1918 by the Heater family. Years later it was used as a dormitory for students and then owned by several other families. But in the early 2000’s the property was purchased, restored and renovated into an executive suites office building, now named The Historic Heater Center. Read more
Cary, NC – For a long time, we’ve wanted to have a few pages on CaryCitizen to collect all the information on a few particular subjects. Our first was the Cary Non-Profits page. Now, we’ve added two more Community Pages. Read more
Story and photo by Hal Goodtree.
Cary, NC – The Heart of Cary meeting on Thursday morning was literally standing room only for a presentation by Jon Kane, the developer of North Hills.
Close to 50 downtown business owners, residents and public officials packed the Cary Chamber for the 8 o’clock meeting. It was a who’s who of downtown leadership including Ed Gawf, Ralph and Daphne Ashworth, Scott Ashworth, Sheila and Carroll Ogle, Don and Lisa Frantz, Howard Johnson and Sandy Jordan of the Chamber, Captain Don Hamilton of the Police, property owners Bill Taylor and Curtis Westbrook and many other civic and business leaders.
Tasty baked goods including Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread were supplied by Great Harvest and sponsored by CaryCitizen.
After some HoCA business, Doc Thorne turned the floor over to Jon Kane.
In a nutshell, Mr. Kane started with a small property that held a single drug store and turned it into one of the signature developments in the Triangle – North Hills.
In less than a dozen years, Kane Realty Corporation has expanded the project to over 100 acres of mixed use retail, residential, entertainment and office.
Mr. Kane talked about North Hills, but the audience didn’t have much trouble picturing the parallels to downtown Cary.
The developer began with a simple statement relating to his own project. He asked the audience to complete this sentence:
“If you’re going to Raleigh, you have to go to _________”
What fills in the blank? Kane Realty set out to make North Hills the answer to that question.
As he clicked through his slides, Jon Kane ticked off a list of ingredients that make a successful redevelopment on a community scale:
Mr. Kane identified a key strength in Cary’s revitalized effort downtown as broadly based community buy-in, from individual business owners to elected officials and landowners.
Jon Kane closed by challenging members of the Heart of Cary Association to fill in their own blank:
“If you’re visiting Cary, you must go to ______________.”
Heart of Cary meetings are free and open to the public. For more information, visit Heart of Cary Association.
Story and photo by Hal Goodtree.
Cary, NC – Just a bref reminder of two big events on Thursday Downtown. Read more
Story and photos by Hal Goodtree.
Cary, NC – On Friday morning, the manager of the Fidelity bank in downtown Cary called Clare Sifford, Director of Cary Visual Art. Someone had tipped over the sculpture on loan at the corner of Chatham and Academy. This is the second piece of sculpture vandalized in the last month.
Getawaycar, the sculpture by Adam Wall was awarded Best in Show this year in Cary. “Last night,” Clare told CaryCitizen, “someone (probably more than one person, as this piece is VERY heavy) pushed it over.”
Damage was evident along the top of the sculpture. A paint smear on the sidewalk showed where the artwork had crashed to the ground.
“I could see that the paint was chipped and the steel was bent,” Clare said. “Fortunately, Adam is semi-local, as he lives in Laurinburg, NC, and will be able to come repair the piece at some point in the near future. This sculpture is valued at $5,000.”
This is the second piece of public art vandalized in downtown Cary in less than a month. “The first one was Collective Conductivity by artist Julia Rogers,” Sifford told this publication.
“It happened on Wednesday evening, 8/24/11. The glass heads of the sculptures were pried loose and dangling by the LED light wires, the glass lotus in the seated figure’s hand was broken, and her large glass hand was pried loose and stolen.”
“The glass hand is not cast,” Sifford said, “it is hand-formed. Each piece is individually made to properly fit the other components in the piece. This sculpture is valued at $15,000.”
Collective Conductivity photograph by Clare Sifford.
In most cases, the artists themselves must pay for the damage in repair or restoration.
Cary Visual Art carries liability coverage for the exhibition, but artists are advised to self-insure their work. Few do.
So, in the case of vandalism, the artists are the victim.
Vandalism has a chilling effect in the arts. “I am so disheartened that it seems like vandals have specifically targeted our exhibition. This is heartbreaking to me, and I am afraid that continued vandalism will discourage artists from participating with CVA, therefore hurting our exhibition further.”
So, in the case of public art, the community is the victim as well.
Naturally, community members downtown and across town are outraged. Police Captain Don Hamilton wrote to Clare Sifford, “I hate that this is piece number 2 to be damaged and I agree that continued problems could jeopardize future artists wanting to participate.”
Cary Police run nightly patrols downtown. One expects they will step up their presence in light of this new challenge.
One might also expect video surveillance to be considered as a way to safeguard valuable artwork on loan to the community.
As our downtown redevelops, now is the time to make sure we have a safety regime commensurate with our community investment and needs.
Story by Lindsey Chester. Photo by Hal Goodtree.
Cary, NC – More dramatic news about the quickening pace of re-development downtown was revealed this morning at the Heart of Cary Association monthly meeting. Read more
Story by Lindsey Chester. Photo by Hal Goodtree.
Cary, NC – Drum Roll, please – the new Cary Arts center marks its official opening and dedication this weekend on Saturday, August 13, 2011. An entire day of activities is planned on Saturday including a cornerstone ceremony and lots of music in the new theater. Read more
Story and photo by Hal Goodtree.
Cary, NC – Cary Town Council voted in a recent work session in favor of temporarily eliminating impact fees for development downtown. This is a change that could substantially increase the incentive for developing a business in the center of our community. Read more
Cary, NC – The Food Factory, a longtime favorite for breakfast and lunch downtown, closed its doors in Cary for the last time on Saturday. The restaurant is relocating to Duke University in Durham. Read more