DGDC gets another donated home; releases 2009 Christmas ornament
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on July 16, 2009 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/GREG SOUSA
This house, located at 300 S. Virginia St., was recently donated to the Downtown Goldsboro Development Corp. DGDC board members will clean up the property later this month and then put it on the market, where officials expect it to bring as much as $45,000 into the organization's coffers.
The house at 300 S. Virginia St. might be a fixer-upper, but Downtown Goldsboro Development Corp. board members were happy to accept the donated property as part of their effort to revitalize the city's core.
And once it's cleaned up and put on the market, the house, they believe, could bring as much as $45,000 into the organization's coffers.
The DGDC held its monthly board meeting Wednesday and cleanup of the property on Virgina Street -- which the group will complete itself at the end of the month -- was among several items discussed.
The arrival of the group's annual Christmas ornament was another.
This year's design was, in part, influenced by the state of the economy.
The Goldsboro Fire Department headquarters opened April 5, 1939, along Ash Street and was built as a Works Progress Administration project. The WPA, which aimed to employ millions of Americans after the Great Depression, was the largest New Deal agency created by Franklin Roosevelt.
The station was closed in 1976 when the department relocated and served as a garage and residence before being condemned by the Goldsboro City Council in recent years.
The building was then purchased, renovated and reopened by Parker Advertising late last year and earned the 2008 N.C. Main Street Best Historic Rehabilitation Project award for its historically accurate restoration.
The ornament featuring the station is now available -- in limited supply -- for $12 at the DGDC office and will be in local stores throughout the city by September.
The DGDC began selling ornaments in 1994, first featuring the Wayne County Court House. Since then, many downtown landmarks -- City Hall, the Paramount Theatre and others -- have graced Christmas trees throughout the county.
For more information about the ornament, or to express interest in the soon-to-be-available house on Virginia Street, contact the DGDC office 732-4959.