Raleigh Chronicle

RALEIGH -- The city of Raleigh held a downtown celebration so large this past Saturday that the likes of it may not be seen again for some time. According to recent city estimates, at least 71,000 people jammed onto Fayetteville Street and adjacent blocks to celebrate the grand reopening of the street to automobile traffic.

After being closed to car traffic for 30 years, the street underwent a major multimllion dollar renovation with enhanced sidewalks, new pavement, streetlights, on-street parking, planters, and more.

The street was closed decades ago on the advice of a consulting firm to turn it into a "pedestrian mall." Unfortunately, the only thing it accomplished was to drive away customers, forcing the closure of many businesses along the street, some of which had been there since the 1800's.

Many people said it was the largest event they had ever seen downtown and certainly it is the largest attended event in recent memory in the downtown area.

The event was sponsored by many media outlets including WRAL TV5, ABC11TV, the News & Observer, the Raleigh Downtowner, G105, Mix101.5 and many others. Other sponsors included Capital Bank, which just recently moved its headquarters to downtown Raleigh. The massive event was organized by the city and the Downtown Raleigh Alliance.

Greg Fishel and Deborah Morgan of WRAL hosted the opening ceremonies, which included a brief speech by Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker (see photo at right with podium and banner).

Shortly after the mayor spoke at around 6pm, a fly-over of around seven Army attack helicopters made their way over the crowd to kick off the parade. (see video at right at top.)

Mayor Meeker led the parade in a 1950's black Chevrolet convertible and as the car made its way down Fayetteville Street to mark the return of auto traffic, the crowd cheered.

The parade included floats and automobiles with congressmen, the crowd favorite Helping Hand Mission marching band, 101.5FM, Capital Bank, Shaw University's bus, plenty of antique and classic automobiles, motorcycles, the city of Raleigh's fire ladder truck, clowns, a Segway scooter from the police department, the Raleigh City Council on board a trolley, Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison, and many more.

There was certainly plenty for the crowd to see and do at the event. In addition to food vendors, there was free music on the main stage, street hockey for the kids, comedy skits, juggling acts, giveaways, and more. The Moore Square Park also had a free outdoor movie and there were many displays and booths or tents from organizations around the city for people to peruse during the day.

Many people were simply there to see the street and to visit many of the new businesses that have opened up in recent months downtown in anticipation of the boom. One of those was the Big Easy, a New Orleans style restaurant on Fayetteville Street that was not open yet, but had its doors open for people to view inside.

Places like the Raleigh City Museum were open longer hours than usual and there were plenty of restaurants and bars open all days long. Many people stayed into the evening to watch the fireworks show and the streets were crowded even late into the night.

The event was capped off (literally) by a fireworks extravaganza which was shot into the air at the far end of Fayetteville Street away from the Capitol Building. The unusually long and loud fireworks display certainly pleased the crowd and the fireworks were unusually beautiful as they were reflected in the glass windows of many of the buildings on the street.

The fireworks had two endings and just when the crowd thought they had seen the finale, a sign lit up that said "want more?" and then the fireworks resumed to have a second ending.

After the crowd left on Saturday, the downtown district was pretty much deserted as usual on Sunday except for Fayetteville Street.

Many people had come downtown to drive on the street for the first time in decades. There were several dozen cars waiting to get back onto the street and it was apparent that with all of the stoplights on the street that it will be backed up during normal traffic hours.

However, for many, the "re-opening" of the street is a new beginning for downtown and one that welcomes people back to the heart of the city. For many years, the street sat dormant, waiting for its reawakening and now finally some three decades later, there are people returning once again to the street. :::