In memoriam: Hooker Van Deusen

Posted on Jul 09, 2024 by David Arneke

Our neighbor Hooker Doolittle Van Deusen passed away on March 21, 2024. He lived for many years at 300 Tate Street, initially with his parents, Edwin Van Deusen, a retired Army officer who died in 2016, and Natasha Doolittle Van Deusen, who died in 2013. In recent years he lived there with his brother, Edwin. He was named after his maternal grandfather, Hooker Doolittle, a U.S. Foreign Service officer.

Hooker was 70 years old. He was a sculptor, potter and painter. He received his bachelor of fine arts degree from UNCG in 1978. He received the Chancellor’s Award that year for one of his paintings, which became part of the permanent collection at the Weatherspoon Art Museum. Many College Hill residents will recall seeing him throughout the neighborhood, walking his dog, Hannah.

Posted in Condolences, Tate Street, UNCG, Weatherspoon Art Museum | Leave a comment

CHill in College Hill on Wednesday evenings this summer

Posted on Jun 19, 2024 by David Arneke
Posted in Carr Street, Neighbors, Rankin Place, Tate Street, Walker Avenue | Leave a comment

W. McGee Street intersection to be closed for about 2 months

Posted on Jun 12, 2024 by David Arneke

Map showing area where street will be closed

Stormwater line replacement work will be centered on McGee Street at Cedar Street. McGee will be closed from Fulton Street to Spring Street.

West McGee Street will blocked from Fulton Street to South Spring Street beginning Friday June 14 for almost two months. Part of South Cedar Street at McGee Street will be closed as well. The target date for reopening the streets is Friday August 9.

The city will upgrade storm water lines to 72 inches and relocate water and sewer mains as necessary. The project is intended to prevent or at least reduce the chance of flooding at Wafco Mills, the lower levels of which have been inundated after extremely heavy rains.

The McGee-Cedar intersection is at the bottom of two hills; a creek runs through the location. It was the site of a railroad line that is now being redeveloped as part of the Downtown Greenway. The storm water line replacement isn’t related to the Greenway.

“The city has wanted to do this work for years, but had challenges while the railroad was still active and under the purview of Norfolk Southern,” Dabney Sanders, project manager for the Greenway, told the College Hill Neighborhood Association in an email. “It made sense to do this work while the downtown greenway is under construction.”

The city aims to complete the project before fall classes begin at Weaver Academy and Greensboro College, which are adjacent to the work site.

 

Posted in Cedar Street, Downtown Greenway, Fulton Street, Greensboro College, McGee Street, Wafco Mills | Leave a comment

City shuts down Walker Avenue nightclub in response to neighbors’ complaints; business says it will reopen

Posted on Jun 06, 2024 by David Arneke

948 Walker Avenue

The City of Greensboro announced today it has shut down The Lost Diamond nightclub on Walker Avenue. Neighbors had complained about gunshots and loud noise. The business opened recently upstairs at 948 Walker Avenue. The space has had a steady turnover of businesses in recent years, most recently Pedro’s Taco Shop and Old San Juan Bar & Grill.

City inspectors found the business was operating illegally as a nightclub. It had been permitted as a restaurant. In response, the business has stated on Instagram that it will reopen, not acknowledging the permitting violation:

The city’s announcement:

Inspections Find Business Illegally Operating as Nightclub

The business has been closed following complaints of loud noises, sounds of gunshots, disturbances, and increased traffic.

Post Date: 06/06/2024 8:43 AM

The Lost Diamond, a newly permitted restaurant at 948 Walker Ave. operating as a nightclub, has been officially closed following complaints of loud noises, sounds of gunshots, disturbances, and increased traffic.

City notice on door: "DO NOT ENTER OR OCCUPY"After Greensboro City Council members and the City Manager’s Office received complaints about this establishment, the Greensboro Fire Department conducted a fire inspection at the establishment on June 4. It was determined that the business was not in compliance with its permitting. An inspection by Greensboro police officers, serving as members of the ABC Task Force, operating under the Greensboro ABC Board, did confirm it was in compliance with ABC laws.

Upon arrival, those conducting the inspections heard music and observed the business operating as a nightclub. The applicant was approved as a ‘restaurant’ with ‘no hookah.’

The fire department and the City’s zoning enforcement team immediately closed the establishment. Zoning will issue a notice of violations for illegal use (proximity to residential) and new use without proper permitting. The business will be closed until the operators return to the original use as a ‘restaurant’ or a change of use is granted.

Agencies involved in this case also included UNCG Police and Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE).

Posted in Businesses, Tate Street, Walker Avenue | Leave a comment

The brand-new College Hill flag is now available

Posted on Feb 11, 2024 by David Arneke

College Hill flag hanging on a front porch

College Hill’s new flags are flying from front porches around the neighborhood. They’re available for purchase at $19. The flags are very substantial and two-sided. The smaller yard flags are $15 (the price includes the stand).

To buy one (or more!), contact our neighbor Connor Drake, who organized the design and production of the flags on behalf of the College Hill Neighborhood Association.

College Hill yard flag

 

Posted in College Hill Neighborhood Association | Tagged | Leave a comment

A Go Fund Me campaign for Merritt White’s cancer treatment

Posted on Feb 01, 2024 by David Arneke

Merritt White

Many of you know Merritt White, proprietor of Re:Cycles on Spring Garden Street. He’s been a great neighbor for 20 years or more. I didn’t know until today that Merritt has been recovering from cancer surgery for several months. Last week he had some good news:

“Had my first scan last Wednesday and results given on Friday. Results came back all clear with no signs of recurrence!!! I’ll have 1 scan every year with a colonoscopy and blood work every 3 months.”

That’s wonderful news, but I hate to think what Merritt’s financial situation must be like. On top of the medical bills, he had to close the shop for a while while he recovered. A Go Fund Me campaign has raised some money for him, but I’m sure he could still use our support. Please join me in helping Merritt and his family:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-one-of-the-ogs-of-the-bike-scene

Thank you.

Posted in Bicycling, Businesses, Spring Garden Street | Tagged | Leave a comment

Groundbreaking set for the Downtown Greenway’s final mile along College Hill and Westerwood — Saturday January 29

Posted on Jan 12, 2024 by David Arneke

Flyer for January 27 groundbreaking for final mile of the greenway

A note about getting there

Parking is available near the cairns, but why not walk or ride your bike from College Hill along the final section. Enter the greenway at the corner of West McGee and Cedar streets, head toward Market Street, and it’s just three blocks to Cairn’s Course.

Posted in Downtown Greenway | Leave a comment

Holiday wreaths again brighten College Hill

Posted on Dec 19, 2023 by David Arneke

Holiday decorations on a lampost and the pergola at Walker and Mendenhall

Neighborhood volunteers have decorated College Hill lampposts and the pergola with lighted holiday wreaths again this year. The group came together at the Church of the Covenant earlier this month to make the wreaths and then put them up.

Volunteers providing materials, making the wreaths and hanging them included Melanie Bassett, Rosemarie DiGiorgio, Leah Farlow, Cheryl and Tyler Harp, David Hemm, Indica, Lynn Gagnier, Spoma Jovanovich, Clara Kelly, Tom Killian, Tim Lindeman, Arlen Nicolls, Seth Pacileo, Lyddan Pawlowski, Lewis Pitts, Dan Smith, Josh Stewart and Samantha Stewart.

Posted in Mendenhall Street, Neighbors, Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, Walker Avenue | Leave a comment

Memorializing the 1887 lynching in College Hill: Soil collection ceremony at Church of the Covenant, September 30

Posted on Sep 16, 2023 by David Arneke

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.

~ Maya Angelou,
On the Pulse of Morning

An invitation to the College Hill neighborhood:

On Saturday, September 30, 2023, the Guilford County Community Remembrance Project will hold a soil collection ceremony from 10:00 a.m.-noon in the Fellowship Hall at the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, 501 S. Mendenhall Street, to honor the memory of Eugene Hairston, Guilford County’s only documented victim of lynching, and commemorate his brutal murder 136 years ago.

We soil collection jarscordially invite College Hill neighbors to attend this solemn ceremony.

Open to all community members, this free two-hour event will feature clerical leaders, elected officials, scholars and artists. During the ceremony, soil collected from the general site of Eugene Hairston’s lynching will be placed into large glass jars labeled with his name, county and date of death. One jar will become part of the permanent collection of the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. Tentative plans are to donate additional jars of soil to our local programming partners, the Greensboro History Museum and the International Civil Rights Center and Museum.

The goals of this initiative are to foster healing and understanding around the legacy of racial violence and to promote empathy, reconciliation, and a shared commitment to equal justice under the law.

The Guilford County Community Remembrance Project was formed in November 2018 by a group of Guilford County residents to remember and publicly acknowledge the only documented lynching in Guilford County, that of Eugene Hairston, a 17-year old African-American man who was lynched in Greensboro in August 1887. By acknowledging the painful truth of this brutal act (a little known historical fact), and the ongoing impact of racial terror, GCCRP works to advance racial reconciliation and equal justice for all. The GCCRP operates under the auspices of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama. The organization opened The National Memorial for Peace & Justice and The Legacy Museum in April 2018 in memory of the victims of lynching in America.

Registration is not required, but if you plan to attend, a response (via email) would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

The GCCRP Steering Committee
Dr. Deborah Barnes, Carole Biggers, Jacqui Graves, Terry Hammond, Dr. Rhonda Jones and Karen Skelton

Posted in Events, Presbyterian Church of the Covenant | Leave a comment

Rosemarie DiGiorgio named CHNA interim president

Posted on Aug 30, 2023 by David Arneke

Samantha Stewart has stepped down as president of the College Hill Neighborhood Association, and Rosemarie DiGiorgio has been elected to succeed her as interim  president. Samantha cited her commitments with her new child and a new job.

“It has been a pleasure serving as College Hill Neighborhood Association president for the past three years,” Samantha said. “This has been a busy year for my family. In March we welcomed our son, Hugo, and in July I accepted the role of executive director at the Marion Stedman Covington Foundation, along with continuing my work as a preservation consultant.

“With all these new responsibilities, I want to ensure the CHNA continues to have a strong leadership presence. I am so grateful that my mom, Rosemarie DiGiorgio, is willing and able to take on the role before the next election. She has demonstrated her exceptional project management, communication, organizational, and leadership skills time and time again as head of the Streets Committee. I look forward to seeing all the work she accomplishes as president. I plan to continue serving College Hill as a board member under her leadership.”

Rosemarie was elected to succeed Samantha at the August meeting of the neighborhood association.

Posted in College Hill Neighborhood Association | Leave a comment