
DATE: Friday, February 28, 1997             TAG: 9702280575

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B01  EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, CORRESPONDENT 

DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY                    LENGTH:   87 lines

OLD NEIGHBORHOOD MAY THRIVE AGAIN WITH PLANNED FACE-LIFT OFFICIALS HOPE TO REVITALIZE THE AREA WHERE ELIZABETH CITY STATE WAS BORN.

Discarded beer bottles and broken windows litter a neglected neighborhood where Elizabeth City State University had its beginnings, black businesses thrived and well-to-do neighbors gathered at churches and the theater.

The historic community surrounding South McMorrine Street may prosper again if a joint effort to revitalize the area is successful.

``This particular area is very important,'' said Rodney Swink, director of the Main Street Program for the state Division of Community Assistance. ``The history and culture of that community is very important.''

Swink and others walked the streets of the depressed district this week to determine a starting point.

River City Community Development Corp. will lead the effort and hopes to raise money through grants and fundraising. Elizabeth City Downtown, ECSU, the Museum of the Albemarle and the city of Elizabeth City are partners in the venture.

Focusing on McMorrine, Shepard and Martin streets, and parts of Herrington Road and White Street, the RCCDC plans to identify and restore several historic buildings in the area and clean up its image.

``We would like for it to be a vibrant neighborhood with a sound economic base,'' said Lenora Jarvis Mackey, director of the RCCDC. ``We hope to bring in new business and expand existing businesses.''

A lunch counter, a beauty salon and a barber shop anchor a dwindling assortment of businesses in the district, far short of the social and economic activity there through the 1950s.

``This was a very vigorous community, especially for the African-American community,'' said Carl Blake, an architectural design specialist based in Elizabeth City. Blake also serves as a tourism coordinator for the Elizabeth City Area Chamber of Commerce and was the guide on the tour through the neighborhood earlier this week.

``This was a community built by blacks and lived in by blacks.''

``This neighborhood was a unit,'' said George ``Bill'' Roberts, who raised his children in a house on McMorrine Street and still rents the home. ``Everybody enjoyed each other. There were no drugs. We didn't even know about drugs.''

Jarvis Mackey said the declinebegan in the 1960s. Vacant lots and abandoned buildings began serving as havens for drunks and drug dealers. In the past couple of years, grand plans for areas near the blighted neighborhood have drawn more attention to its condition.

McMorrine Street will be practically in the back yard of the new $8 million Museum of the Albemarle, likely to be built in the next five years.

A 170-year-old cemetery lies between McMorrine and Martin streets. A community group cleared the cemetery of weeds and debris last year, putting in new benches to create a park-like atmosphere. The efforts drew extensive public attention to the cemetery.

The neighborhood is within sight of Ehringhaus Street, one of Elizabeth City's busiest routes, and is a short walk from the waterfront docks frequented by recreational sailors.

The area around McMorrine Street is home to 44 historic houses, churches and businesses ranging from the building where State Colored Normal School was founded - the forerunner of ECSU - to Dr. Kermit E. White's dental office, the only example of the 1950s international style of architecture in the city. White is the namesake for ECSU's community center.

The oldest house in the district is the Simmons-Perkins House on Herrington Road. Capt. Josiah Simmons built the house in 1847. A black contractor named Joseph Henry Perkins bought the house in 1925.

Built in 1934, the Gaiety Theatre on Shepard Street was the first modern all-black theater in the city. In recent years, it was a night club. ``Any unrealized asset in a town will cost you in the long term if it is not addressed,'' Swink said. ``Clearly there are financial limitations on a small town, but on the positive side, it is much more personal in a small town. One of the most important issues is building a sense of ownership and responsibility there.'' ILLUSTRATION: COMMUNITY VENTURE

The historic community surrounding South McMorrine Street may

prosper again if a joint effort to revitalize the area is

successful.

``This particular area is very important,'' said Rodney Swink,

director of the Main Street Program for the state Division of

Community Assistance. ``The history and culture of that community is

very important.''

River City Community Development Corp. will lead the effort and

hopes to raise money through grants and fund-raising. Elizabeth City

Downtown, ECSU, the Museum of the Albemarle and the city of

Elizabeth City are partners in the venture.