PEOPLE & 



PLACES 



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LEFT TO RIGHT: This pocket park is a pleasant pass-through in the bustling business district. • Tryon Palace is the centerpiece of New Bern's history-based tourism. • New Bern 's waterfront 



Ongoing restoration is part of a much 

 bigger picture. Some 25 years ago, community 

 leaders adopted a long-range revitalization 

 strategy to re-establish New Bern, the seat of 

 Craven County, as a vibrant coastal center. 



PAST AS PROLOGUE 



From its earliest days, New Bern thrived 

 — first as an important colonial port city, and 

 later as a bustling railroad center. But like many 

 small cities. New Bern's pulse began to fade in 

 the mid- 1900s when industry abandoned rails 

 and rivers for superhighways, and citizens opted 

 to drive away from city centers to settle and shop 

 in the suburbs. 



By the 1960s, New Bern's once vital 

 waterfront was in sad shape, and its downtown on 

 the verge of collapse. 



"Visionaries in the business community 

 pulled citizens together in 1977 to devise a plan 

 that would breathe new life into New Bern," 

 recalls Susan Moffat, executive director of Swiss 

 Bear Downtown Development Corporation. 



That first downtown revitalization plan 

 would become a blueprint for sustainable 

 economic development that emphasized a "sense 

 of place." To manage and coordinate New Bern's 

 renaissance, city, county and community leaders 

 created the private nonprofit Swiss Bear in 1979. 



Sad as the waterfront was, Moffat says, 

 the community saw its potential as a catalyst 



— along with the city's historic assets — for 

 expanding the tourism industry, developing 

 recreational opportunities, and stimulating a 

 housing market to attract retirees. 



The downtown plan gained momentum in 

 1980 when New Bern became one of the first 

 North Carolina cities to participate in the Main 

 Street Program, created by the National Trust for 

 Historic Preservation. Now administered through 

 the N.C. Department of Commerce, the program 

 provides technical support to smaller cities 

 like New Bern that use historic preservation to 

 promote economic development. 



Twenty-five years later, New Bern is the 

 "poster child" for the program, says Rodney 

 Swink, who oversees the Main Street Program. 



He attributes the success to the public- 

 private partnership of elected officials, the 

 business community and Swiss Bear's consistent 

 leadership. 



For example, an earlier federal urban 

 renewal program helped clear derelict 

 warehouses, buildings and debris from 14 

 acres of land along the Trent River for new 

 development. In 1983, Swiss Bear recruited a 

 developer to construct the $13-million Sheraton 

 waterfront hotel and marina, and helped the city 

 secure a $1 .9 million federal action grant for 

 infrastructure essential to the project's success. 

 The complex expanded in the early 1990s with 

 the construction of a luxury inn. And, in 2000, 



the 30,000-square-foot New Bern Riverfront 

 Convention Center opened next door. 



PARTNERSHIP FOR PROGRESS 



"Grants have been important, along with 

 fundraising, investment tax credits and low- interest 

 loan pools," Moffat says. "But the most powerful 

 tool has been the involvement of the business 

 community." 



"We're all moving together toward a common 

 goal — New Bern," says Harold Talton, a retired 

 banker and past chairman of the Swiss Bear board 

 of directors. "Local merchants in a 10- to 12-block 

 area of downtown voted double taxation on 

 themselves to do (2004-2005) street improvements, 

 bury utilities, lay sidewalks and install planting 

 strips." 



Talton says the New Bern Historical Society, 

 Historical Preservation Foundation and Chamber 

 of Commerce are working with Swiss Bear and 

 city and county governments in what he calls a 

 "partnership for progress." 



Talton notes that plans are moving forward for 

 the Tryon Palace $50-million visitors' center and 

 history education complex. It will be built along 

 the Trent River on the former Barbour Boat Works 

 site. The state acquired the six-acre parcel for $1.75 

 million, with $750,000 of that raised by private 

 donations. Once complete in 2009, Tryon Palace 

 officials estimate that attendance figures will soar 

 from its current 90,000 to 200,000 annually. 



22 SPRING 2005 



