Twelve years of development in Goldsboro
By From staff reports
Published in News on June 10, 2012 1:50 AM
2000 -- The Downtown Goldsboro Development Corp. board of directors puts together its 10-year vision for downtown. It predicts a passenger-rail system running from Goldsboro Union Station and booming development near the city's downtown convention center.
2001 -- The Goldsboro City Council votes to spend $2.2 million out of its Occupancy Tax Fund on a location for its future civic center -- at the intersection of Wayne Memorial Drive and New Hope Road.
2004 -- The city begins its renovation of City Hall, which includes a new annex and the restoration of Historic City Hall.
2005 -- The Paramount Theatre, a downtown mainstay, burns down in a still-unexplained fire. Officials discuss where to rebuild it or if it should be rebuilt at all.
2006 -- The City Council unanimously approves the rebuilding of the Paramount on Center Street.
2007 -- Allison Platt presents the downtown master plan she was hired to produce a year before. Five public forums and several stakeholder meetings were conducted, leading to a plan the City Council approves in August.
2008 -- A newly renovated Paramount Theatre raises its curtain.
2009 -- The City Council votes down a proposal to partner with the county on a convention center on the land it purchased in 2001.
2010 -- The Council votes against a downtown recreation center after $1 million in expenditures for its planning, claiming it couldn't be done in the current economic climate. Street bond money becomes available to resurface Center Street, but the Council decides to hold it to help fund the renovations to the city's main street proposed in the downtown master plan.
2011 -- Allison Platt presents detailed architectural drawings and plans for the Center Street Streetscape project. It's determined the project will begin with the 200 block of North Center Street.
2012 -- The Council awards a contract for the first phase of the Streetscape project to Daniels and Daniels Construction in March. The firm breaks ground May 14.