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HIGH POINT — The Washington Drive District was once a vital, historically important place — the boyhood home of John Coltrane, a breeding ground for jazz and blues and the center of the city’s black community. But as the city fell on hard times, this area fell hardest — reduced to a crumbling neighborhood of cracked sidewalks, wrecked abandoned buildings and storefront churches.

On Tuesday night, residents gathered to hear a plan for the area’s revitalization, part of the Core City Plan to revive the city’s downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. They were asked to both remember what the place once was and to imagine what it could be.

Phil Walker, a consultant with The Walker Collaborative, was on hand to show the draft plan the City Council commissioned in January.

Nothing’s set in stone, he said, but there is a plan.

“If we could wave a magic wand and make this all happen tomorrow, this is how it would look,” Walker said.

In a slide show, Walker walked the neighbors and community leaders through sketches and action plans that map the revitalization of the neighborhood in vivid detail.

The abandoned Kilby Hotel and Arcade, once a grand venue for live jazz and a registered historic building, was reimagined as mixed-use loft apartment with a downstairs studio.

The forbidding American Lighting Building was transformed into a bright-windowed restaurant with upstairs apartments.

The Ritz Theatre, now a rundown brick building housing a church and barber shop, was given a mural and a restored marquee for a retro look.

The recommendations didn’t end there — widened sidewalks, more trees and a possible museum were part of the draft plan. The overall goal is to create a hip, distinct and culturally important place that will draw tourists, new businesses and residents of all ages and backgrounds.

The mostly black crowd of about 50 people said they liked what they heard.

“I think it’s the kind of thing this community really needs to see,” said Etta Jane Robinson, 58, who said she remembered the neighborhood of her youth as a vibrant black community with thriving businesses.

“There has been a lot of people who have had hard times here, and really the city forgot about this whole area. I think it’s time they remembered it.”

Richard Randall, 46, said: “If we can find the money to do all this, I think it would be glorious for the neighborhood and for the whole city. Even if we could just do a third of what they’re talking about, I think it would be wonderful.”

But neighbors and city leaders all had the same question when the presentation ended: What would something like this cost? The answer: It’s complicated.

Construction of an African American Hertigage/Carolina Music Museum could cost more than $7 million.

Renovating the Kilby Hotel with its roof damage, lead paint, mold and mildew? More than $2 million.

Buying the American Lighting Building, with no renovations? $1.8 million.

And that’s before burying the utility lines, reworking sidewalks, creating a greenway and restructuring streets for the best traffic flow.

But Walker was quick to point out, no one is suggesting it will happen all at once. The Core City Plan is a long-term project and Washington Drive a vital part of it. With his group’s recommendations in hand, the City Council can begin looking at first steps.

City Council members in attendance said they liked what they saw — but they wonder where the money’s coming from and how changes would effect the residents.

“I liked what I saw,” Mayor Becky Smothers said. “I think they’ve certainly spent a lot of time on the aesthetics, and it looks beautiful.

“But there’s going to be a good bit that needs to be done from a neighborhood perspective, too. We need to see if there are some partnership opportunities out there to make these things happen,’’ Smothers said,
“and right now, unfortunately, we’re in an economic time when there’s not a lot of money out there to be had.”

Contact Joe Killian at 883-4422, ext. 228, or joe.killian@news-record.com