WAM: New exhibition and talk by photographer Lucinda Devlin

Posted on Jan 24, 2017 by David Arneke
Photograph of a vast expanse of wheat in a field

Lucinda Devlin, Wheat Field, SD, 2008, from the series Field Culture

The Weatherspoon Art Museum will open a new exhibition, “Lucinda Devlin: Sightlines,” Friday with a talk by artist and a reception.

From the Weatherspoon:

“Lucinda Devlin’s photographs serve as social commentaries on timely and socially relevant issues such as personal rights, the death penalty, and agribusiness. An internationally recognized American photographer who now lives in Greensboro, Devlin began her career in the 1970s during the genesis of color photography in America. At the time, she took up not only color photography, but also the artistic approach that she continues to this day, one that emphasizes an objective or neutral point of view. Devlin also discovered her preferred subject matter: psychologically charged spaces absent of any human figures yet nonetheless signaling contemporary public and private life.”

Devlin has produced eight series of photographs. Her first, Pleasure Ground, featured images of thematic hotel rooms. Her best known series, The Omega Suites, shows images of sterile execution chambers and related apparatus. Others explore the meaning of place at such sites as zoos and amusement parks, tanning salons and health spas, and hospitals and funeral homes, among others.

The exhibition features 83 photographs chosen from all eight of Devlin’s series. It will be on display in the Weatherspoon’s main McDowell Gallery through April 23.

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“College Hill Bungalow Represents Inspiring History,” a post from the Preservation Greensboro blog

Posted on Jan 23, 2017 by David Arneke
View of the house from the street

The Booker-Benton House, 1110 West McGee Street

Benjamin Briggs of Preservation Greensboro recently wrote about the Booker-Benton House at 1110 West McGee Street, a home with a remarkable history.

“The Booker-Benton House is a rare surviving structure built by an African American family at the height of the Jim Crow Era, in the midst of the historically white College Hill neighborhood. …

“The 1100 block of West McGee Street was an African American enclave within a largely white neighborhood. … After the Civil War, African-American citizens sought to avoid high costs of land by living in the area alongside and behind the white-owned homes of South Mendenhall Street.  Some of these early residents purchased land from Cyrus P. Mendenhall, once mayor of the city and a Quaker. Others rented their homes.”

Click here to read the full post.

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College Hill real estate update: Very little for sale right now; also, Tate Street is about to get another pizza-and-subs place

Posted on Jan 18, 2017 by David Arneke
house seen from the street

126 South Mendenhall Street is now under contract. The asking price is $399,900.

After a flurry of late fall/early winter activity, College Hill has unusually few houses or condos for sale. Only two single-family, owner-occupied houses are on the market — the beautiful 126 South Mendenhall, under contract at an asking price of $399,900, and the deteriorating 210 South Mendenhall, for which a foreclosure auction is scheduled for February 28. The listing for 306 South Mendenhall was recently removed after almost a year and a half, most recently at $345,000.

The house at 500 South Mendenhall, which is divided into apartments, was taken off the market in November after being for sale for more than 18 months. The asking price dropped from $309,900 to $275,500 in that time.

Two single-unit rental houses are for sale — 912 Spring Garden and 909 Walker Avenue, which is under contract. There are only three condos available, two at Wafco Mills and one Wafco townhouse. By my count, five condos and townhouses in College Hill were sold in 2015, and six others were listed but taken off the market without sales.

Tate Street changes

The Subway on Tate Street closed this month after grinding out low-end sub sandwiches for more than 25 years. If you’re looking for a sub on Tate Street, you’re down to only four choices now, I think. For the moment, anyway …

Also, the short-lived Munchiez closed in December in the longtime Indian restaurant location. A new restaurant is already moving in, Sam’s Oven and Grill, which has a location on Groometown Road. Its menu includes pizza and subs. …

For what it’s worth, the Cottage Inn pizza chain says it’s still coming to Tate Street, although almost no renovation work has been done at the old Thai Garden location since it was gutted last summer. They’ll open in the spring, they say. … Next door, the future Insomnia Cookies location at least has a sign up now. They don’t seem to be in any hurry, either, but some upfit work has been done there.

Loose leaf collection

The city says it has vacuumed up just about all of the leaves it’s going to take from College Hill. Its online map that tracks the progress of loose leaf collection shows College Hill as almost complete. The city says it’ll be finished citywide by January 27.

If you see a pile of leaves at the curb anywhere in the neighborhood, call 373-CITY or use the SeeClickFix app or website and tell them where they need to come back to. … Note that the map shows Edgar Street as a private street, again demonstrating the city’s inconsistent approach to taking responsibility for the alley.

Posted in Businesses, Edgar Street, Mendenhall Street, Real Estate, Spring Garden Street, Tate Street, Wafco Mills, Walker Avenue | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Calendar of Events, December 2016: Happy Holidays!

Posted on Nov 30, 2016 by David Arneke
Clendar of Events, December 2016

Click to go to the calendar page.

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Architectural Salvage sale: 50% off sinks, mantels and lights

Posted on Nov 29, 2016 by David Arneke

ASG sale flyer: 50% off sinke, mantels, light fixtures

Posted in Historic Preservation, Preservation Greensboro | Leave a comment

Posted on Nov 09, 2016 by David Arneke
November calendar of events. Click below for details.

Events in College Hill and nearby this month. Click here to go to the Calendar page.

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Troy Bumpas Inn is hosting its final guests this weekend

Posted on Oct 29, 2016 by David Arneke
Troy Bumpass house with its grand Doric columns

The Greek Revival landmark at 114 South Mendenhall Street

The Troy Bumpas Inn’s last guests will have breakfast Sunday morning, and then the longtime b&b will close for good. Owners Judy and Larry Horn will sell the house next week to a couple who will live in it as a home only, not a business.

Larry Horn says he and Judy wanted to have more flexibility in their lives, particularly to visit three grandchildren born in the last year and a half in Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. They’ve bought a home in the nearby Lake Daniel neighborhood.

“We’ve been happy with it,” Larry said of the inn. “The business has been fine.”

He says the new owners are moving to Greensboro from out of state and have owned a historic home previously.

The house, which is actually known as the Bumpass-Troy House, is a Greensboro landmark, one of two remaining antebellum homes in College Hill. Built in 1847-48, it was originally the home of the Rev. Sidney Bumpass, a trustee of then-new Greensboro College, and his wife, Frances. Daughter Eugenia Bumpass Troy expanded the house in 1911 and began taking in boarders. It remained in the family through Eugenia’s children nieces [see correction in the comment below] until 1975, when it was bequeathed to Greensboro College.

The college quickly sold the house, and it endured years of decay as apartments. In 1991, Preservation Greensboro helped save the house from destruction, buying it and placing preservation easements on the property. The easements require consultation with the organization on major renovations, interior and exterior. Those easements remain with the deed in perpetuity.

Gwen and Charles Brown bought the house in 1992 and made it into a bed and breakfast. John and Andrea Wimmer bought the house and business in 2004. They sold it to Larry and Judy in 2011.

The Bumpass-Troy house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. It also has been designated a Guilford County landmark property.

Posted in Businesses, Mendenhall Street | Tagged | 1 Comment

World-class jazz group to play at PCOC on Sunday evening; expect to start paying for Certificates of Appropriateness

Posted on Oct 20, 2016 by David Arneke
rebuilt wall at 110 south mendenhall, seen from the street

The retaining wall at 110 South Mendenhall Street, long a neighborhood embarrassment, has been rebuilt and strengthened. Partial funding came from the College Hill Street Wall Program.

flyer for Oct. 23 conert by Antonio Troyols and Unit ThreeJazz pianist Antonio Truyols and his trio, Unit Three, will perform a free concert Sunday October 23, at 7 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. Truyols is former music director at PCOC and UNCG grad student who’s now working in New York and around the world (Best Band award at the Bucharest International Jazz Festival, for example). …

UNCG has closed on its purchase of the Tate Street office building most recently used as a leasing office for The Grove apartment complex. It’s next to the former Addams bookstore, which UNCG also bought recently. The university now owns three properties on Tate Street, including the former bank office at Tate and Spring Garden streets. …

Also on Tate Street, Slices closed for a couple days last week for a quick renovation. Further up the block, the upfit of the former Thai Garden for a cookie shop and new pizza place appears to have been at a standstill for the past couple months. The space has been gutted, but almost nothing else appears to have been done for weeks. …

Beginning with the city’s next fiscal year, starting in July 2017, you can expect to pay a fee for certificates of appropriateness. A survey of other cities around the state showed only Greensboro and Winston-Salem still give them away free. The city manager’s office wants the costs to be borne by property owners in the historic districts, whose investments have raised the value of properties — and the city’s tax revenues — immensely. …

Duke Energy logoDuke Energy will hold a meeting about its upcoming tree trimming work in College Hill and Westerwood on Tuesday, November 15, 6 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the Café of First Baptist Church, 1000 W. Friendly Avenue.  The Café is in the Activity Center adjacent to the main building. …

Rain from Hurricane Matthew caused drainage problems for a homeowner in the 200 block of Tate Street, whose property backs up to Edgar Street. The city refused to do anything about it, claiming Edgar isn’t a city street. That’s odd, since city workers did a very nice job of fixing potholes there last month. …

If you’re giving out candy on Halloween, please go to the Treat Map on nextdoor.com and put yourself on the list so trick-or-treaters will know to stop by. … UNCG has issued its annual Clery Act report on campus crime, as required by federal law. The 54-page report is mostly boilerplate about policies, procedures, blah blah blah. Skip to Page 40 for the actual statistics, which, frankly, are a bunch of raw numbers that don’t tell you much. …

The former warehouse on Spring Garden at the Greenway is taking shape as a restaurant complex. Click here to see what it looks like so far, courtesy of The Business Journal. It’s called Morehead Foundry and is expected to open in the next month…

Posted in Businesses, City Government, Duke Energy, Edgar Street, Mendenhall Street, Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, Spring Garden Street, Tate Street, Trees, UNCG | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Tiny but buildable vacant lot on S. Mendenhall for sale

Posted on Oct 19, 2016 by David Arneke
an empty lot partially covered by random vegetation

The lot at 609 South Mendenhall Street, seen from the street, with neighboring 615 South Mendenhall in the background

The long-vacant lot at 609 South Mendenhall has been put up for sale by its owner, the College Hill Neighborhood Association. The city has confirmed that the tiny lot (3,320 square feet) is buildable.

The neighborhood association will place a deed restriction on the lot, requiring that the property must be owner occupied (i.e., the property must be the principle residence of the owner of record).

To ensure that development of the lot does not diminish the historic character of the neighborhood , the purchaser/s will be required before closing to prepare plans to build one single-family house meeting these development standards:

  • The house will not exceed two stories above grade.
  • Maximum house width will be thirty-five feet.
  • Parking will not be located within the front yard setback.
  • The house will have a front covered porch.
  • The purchaser/s will obtain approval of the house and site development plans by Historic District Commission and any other approvals required by other city agencies.
  • Before closing, the purchaser/s will submit evidence satisfactory to the CHNA board of sufficient financing to construct the house and site improvements.
  • After closing, the purchaser/s will begin construction within six months of closing and obtain a Certificate of Occupancy from the City of Greensboro within 24 months of closing.

The lot has been advertised on zillow.com and craigslist.com since October 10. The neighborhood association is accepting bids on the property through Sunday, October 23 Saturday October 22 [updated 10-19-2016, 1:46 p.m.] A decision on a sale could be made as soon as the monthly board meeting on Monday, October 24.

Posted in City Government, College Hill Neighborhood Association, Mendenhall Street, Real Estate | Leave a comment

October highlights: Voter registrations ends, early voting begins

Posted on Oct 01, 2016 by David Arneke

October calendar with key dates notedEvents in College Hill and nearby this month.

Recurring on Tuesdays

  • In*Spire Meditation group
    Tuesdays, noon, Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, 501 South Mendenhall Street, in the Sanctuary. The meditation period is less than an hour and is open to the public.
  • Noon at the ‘Spoon
    Second Tuesday each month, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Spring Garden Street at Tate Street, a 20-minute exploration of a new exhibition.
  • Taco Tuesday Beginners Bike Ride
    Tuesdays, rolling at 6:30 p.m., ReCycles, 908-A Spring Garden Street
    A social ride, an opportunity to meet new riders who wish to get outside and maybe work up to longer rides over the course of the summer. Initially, the ride will be averaging around 6-10 miles, no-drop, at a pace averaging around 10+, then building through the summer.  Afterward, the Bandito Burrito Food Truck is at South Mendenhall and Spring Garden on Tuesdays.

UNCG event calendars

October

  • Through Sunday December 11
    Unbranded: A Century of White Women, 1915–2015
    Exhibit of work by Hank Willis Thomas, showing how advertising campaigns have both marketed products to white women and marketed those women as a feminine standard.
    Weatherspoon Art Museum
  • Friday October 7
    7 p.m., “Basie Meets the Duke,” UNCG Jazz Ensemble I and II
    Music Building, Recital Hall
  • Sunday October 16
    Noon to 2 p.m., Chili Festival
    College Place United Methodist Church, 509 South Tate Street
    All proceeds go to the Spartan Open Pantry
  • Thursday October 20
    Early voting begins for November 8 general election (Early voting schedule and locations)
  • Monday October 24
    7 p.m., Neighborhood Association board meeting
    Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, Fellowship Hall, 501 South Mendenhall Street
  • Wednesday October 26
    4 p.m., Historic Preservation Commission meeting
    Melvin Municipal Office Building, Plaza Level conference room, 300 West Washington Street
Posted in College Place UMC, Elections, Spartan Open Pantry, UNCG, UNCG College of Visual and Performing Arts | Leave a comment