Downtown Memories: The Town Hall That Built a Town
Contributed by Hank Dickson
In 2001, Holly Springs started the monumental task of planning a new Town hall. Today’s Town Hall has become a familiar hub of local government, but few residents realize the challenging circumstances that Town leaders, staff, and citizens experienced in the years before it opened.
Prior to 2002, the Town Hall was a modest setup at an old furniture store connected to an old commercial metal building. The Town Council held its meetings inside the metal building section, and the Town staff handled their business mostly in the “store section” of the “complex”. But as Holly Springs began its rapid growth, the tight quarters quickly became difficult for staff and elected officials to navigate.
The Town Hall project was one of the first major projects that Assistant Manager Chuck Simmons led since joining the Town staff, after years as Town Manager in Erwin, NC. The site chosen was the existing Town Hall parcel, and after a space needs assessment, it was determined that a 28,000-square-foot building would accommodate Town departments for the next twenty-five years.
Simmons shared, “….selecting the Town Hall location was of strategic importance, and the ultimate decision on site selection was a major impetus to moving forward. The downtown site was selected due to its central location, accessibility, and visibility. Creating a development and activity hub that could ultimately spur highly sought-after private investment in our downtown was also an important factor of consideration. This long-term strategy ultimately proved to be a success.”
Simmons also recalls that the price was around $107 per square foot, which was an excellent price since it was bid during an economic downturn.
Former Councilman Peter Atwell has vivid memories of this time and reflects on this very productive period. Atwell shared, “I think to me, being able to create the vision and actually make it happen is incredibly rewarding. This was such a critical, transformative period, where we accomplished so much in such a short span - both intangible and tangible. There were so many wants and needs, but it seemed like that’s all there were. Once our fresh perspective was able to gain traction, which really came down to decisive leadership, progress followed quickly. This is most visibly manifested in a beautiful new Town Hall building. Not only did it create a literal developmental anchor in the center of Holly Springs, but it was, more broadly, our own declaration that this was an important place to build around. It also provided an essential, appropriate home for dedicated staff members who were doing so much with so little. Building our new Town Hall really helped change the identity of the Town. It was a key element in all the successes that followed, and that are being enjoyed today. A commemorative brick from the old Town Hall building/furniture store remains on my bookshelf, 24 years later.”
Once the old Town Hall came down in mid-2002, Town operations shifted to a group of connected temporary buildings located where the current Town Hall Commons parking structure now stands along Avent Ferry Road. While Town staff had adequate temporary office space, officials still needed a central, easily accessible place to hold Town Council meetings. The “pre-renovation” Hunt Center was chosen for that role. It offered convenience and ample parking, but the setting itself left much to be desired. Meetings were held in the old Hunt Center cafeteria, a room remembered as stuffy and tinged with a spoiled milk/moldy odor. Mayor Dick Sears and we members of the Town Council sat behind folding tables with our paper agendas and documents. This was well before the days of iPads and digital agendas. In the summer, the room often became hot and uncomfortable, and fans and a window air-conditioning unit had to be switched on for relief. But when it grew too loud for everyone to hear, the unit had to be turned right back off. Even so, those meetings became part of the Town’s story—a reminder of how far Holly Springs has come and how eagerly the community awaited the opening of its new Town Hall. Councilman Atwell also recalled, “Meeting at the Hunt Center the way we did, with folding tables and stacking chairs, I think, wasn’t great but was a small price to pay while the new place was being built.”
Meetings in that room were certainly unpleasant, but one meeting, in particular, still stands out to me. Town Attorney Ernie Pearson was unable to attend a Town Council meeting. At the time, the Town’s legal business was handled and represented by the Sanford Holshouser Law Firm. Filling in for Pearson that evening was none other than former North Carolina Governor James Holshouser!
Town Manager Carl Dean pushed hard for completion of the project, which took approximately fourteen months. Even as the Town staff were being moved in, punch list items were being addressed. After all the planning, construction, change orders, and typical drama associated with such a large project, citizens were invited to a grand opening celebration in August 2003.