Episode 1: Elizabeth City Downtown, Inc.

Izzy and David sit down with Deborah Malenfant, Executive Director of Elizabeth City Downtown, Inc., to discuss the growth, challenges, and exciting momentum shaping our downtown. Deborah shares insights on revitalization projects, community partnerships, and her vision for a thriving, connected Elizabeth City. A must-listen for anyone passionate about the future of our community.

Thanks for listening to Voices of the Albemarle, brought to you by The Daily Advance.
Explore more stories, local news, and community updates:
🌐 https://www.dailyadvance.com/

📘 https://www.facebook.com/thedailyadvance/

Transcript

Izzy: 0:13

That's good. I didn't think about that. Okay. Um so Debbie Malenfant, thank you so much for joining us on our podcast today. This is our very first episode. I'm very excited and I'm very thrilled that you agreed to come on and be our first guest.

Debbie: 0:30

Thank you. I'm excited too.

Izzy: 0:32

So uh obviously I'm Izzy Kelly-Goss. I work for the Daily Advance. We have our publisher, David Prizer, here as well.

David: 0:39

Hello.

Izzy: 0:40

Debbie is the downtown director. She is the mayor of downtown, if you according to who you're asking. Um, but first I feel like we should get to know you a little bit. Can you give me a little bit of insight into your journey leading up to becoming the director of Elizabeth City Downtown Incorporated?

Debbie: 1:00

Sure. Um, I grew up in Elizabeth City, not originally from here, but moved here when I was four. So I am a local in my view. Um and when I was in graduate school, I happened to walk into a business downtown called uh the City Wine Cellar. And they had a for sale sign on their bulletin board. And I was like, oh cool, wouldn't it be cool to own a uh deli and bakery and wine bar? And no idea how to run a restaurant, no idea of you know how to run a small business um in that industry, and probably within two months, my husband at the time and I owned it. So trial by fire, and we owned that for eight years, and that was really my first involvement with downtown Elizabeth City from a business perspective. And I got involved with the Downtown Business and Professional Association, which is kind of like a chamber for uh downtown businesses, and with Elizabeth City Downtown Incorporated, which is the Main Street program, served on both boards and just fell completely in love with downtown and wanted to be part of it. Um, so we owned the the city wine cellar for eight and a half years. And when I closed that, we um I did some consulting work and then I did took a job at Sentara Albemarle at the time as their volunteer coordinator. And the city manager, Rich Olson, uh called me and said the downtown director position is open. You should apply for it. And I didn't because it was my first year in that job at Sentara. And I was like, I can't be a job hopper. I mean, I would love to be involved, but I can't just, you know, stay in a job for a year. And um I said, let's it's just not the right time. And then about a year later, he called me again. He said, It's open again. And I was like, All right, I'll I'll think about it. And I did, and I applied for it, and I got the job, and that was the start um of me being in this position. And I told him at the time, I said, I will do it for two years, and then I'll commit for two years. And um, and then in the middle of the second year, there was so much going on, I was like, all right, I'll do five years. And here I am at year nine. So, you know, downtown is just an amazing place. So you fall in love with it.

Izzy: 3:49

And you really do. I also moved here when I was four, and I definitely consider myself a local. I love it here. I love the downtown area. There's been so much growth over specifically, I feel like the last five to ten years. Obviously, you've been director for nine years, so I'm sure we can attribute a lot of that to you. I am sure of that. Um, I remember the city wine cellar as a kid. I've told you this. I have the high tops and bar stools that are made out of like wood. Um, I still have those. I think you gave them to my parents.

Debbie: 4:22

And when I the wine racks underneath?

Izzy: 4:23

Yes. When I moved out on my own, I brought them with me.

Debbie: 4:27

That's so cool.

Izzy: 4:28

But speaking of all of the progress that's been made downtown, um, can you talk about what it's been like to be a part of the improvements that have been going on downtown and, you know, what you feel like has really made a difference?

Debbie: 4:44

It has really been incredible. And some of the things that have happened, some of the developments, some of the projects were things that weren't 100% part of the vision. Um, they were serendipitous, and we were lucky enough to have people who saw the potential of downtown and started investing in downtown. Um, I came on in 2016, which was a good time because we were just coming out of the recession um period. People were starting to reinvest. Uh, the properties in downtown at the time were uh uh a very good bargain, and people were purchasing them at a good price and then reinvesting in them to bring them up to building code uh and to just totally rehab them. Um the historic tax credits is was a great uh momentum for a lot of the investors that were investing in downtown because many of the larger projects were historic tax credit projects from a state and national level. Um so a combination of things. Um we've just had some incredible projects with the Weatherly Lofts and with Betsy Town Flats, and um we had a little bit of a of a bump in the road during a period where it was very difficult to get contractors. And um you know, the the pricing was premium. We had some investors coming down from you know northern Virginia and um weren't able to get local contractors because everyone was super busy on projects, and um J.D. Lewis construction came in and they bought a building with the intention of you know just doing their own projects, but they have been very valuable in helping other projects move forward. So, what projects were they working on? They were working on the Weatherly Lofts and the uh Betsy Town Flats, where they're two big projects, and then they partnered with Seven Sounds to help them with their development project, and they've just been a huge resource from an information perspective to some of the other downtown folks who've been doing things to help them answer questions or even just come in and do a walkthrough and say, you can do this with this building. Um, one of the things with the weatherly uh lofts project is um, you know, that was the former mattress factory and it had been closed for a while and it had been, you know, deemed unbuildable. You know, the the word that I was getting, kept hearing over and over is just we just need to tear it down because and make parking. And um, and it was you know blighted, and everyone said it can't be can't be developed. It's just engineering-wise, there's a crack in the building. And um James Flanagan lived at the Outer Banks, worked in Richmond, he'd come over the bridge and he'd see that building and it was on his list. And he said, absolutely, it can be developed. And and he did it. And I will tell you, almost until the time that that project was finished, I would hear can't be done, can't be done, and and I would say, it's it's being done. So I think that was a critical project for us seeing that big things can happen here. That we don't have to think small, we can think big, and we can think big development.

David: 8:32

I have a question about the changes going on and the way you were describing it. Um I'm not originally from Elizabeth City, I'm from originally raised in Chicago, and um there's there's gentrification going on in lots of cities. And so I remember in Chicago I uh purchased a home that was in an area that was being gentrified, and so there were a lot of growing pains. Um some people don't like the development going on, some people want the development going on. There may be some some some discussions about are we moving too fast, are we moving too slow? Um with the changes that you're that you're talking about, have you experienced growing pains in the city? I mean, how have they manifested themselves and what do you do about those?

Debbie: 9:22

Um, I would say from growing pains, I mean, as far as gentrification, um, I have seen, you know, of course, nationally rents are going up. It's not unique to Elizabeth City. And of course, when you when you uh when you redevelop a building, of course, the rents are going to go up. But the good thing that I see in in some of the development that is happening in Elizabeth City, it's not coming in and taking existing residential housing and taking it away and making it more expensive. It's creating housing in buildings that were unutilized. And uh, you know, the middle school and weatherly lofts, they were not housing. So it's expanding the housing inventory so that it provides more housing. And hopefully at some point, at a critical point, it will level out and maybe even low when supply demand um hits that point. Um, as far as growing pains, you know, making sure that we have the infrastructure and being able to provide the water and the utilities for for the projects. Um in the downtown sector, there hasn't been a lot of new build projects. So we haven't run into that as significantly as in in some areas, other areas of the city. I don't know if that answers your question specifically, but you know, growing pains, you know convincing people that development, some development is good, and this development has helped us to grow downtown.

David: 10:59

Has it been hard to convince people?

Debbie: 11:03

Not after the first couple of projects. I think after the first couple of projects, people people saw the vision and saw that um that good things were happening.

David: 11:11

Okay.

Izzy: 11:12

There's been a lot of really good projects. Uh how involved is ECDI in all of these projects?

Debbie: 11:18

Um, I like to say we're a very nosy organization. So we like to stick our nose into any project that is downtown and offer to help uh in any way we can. And sometimes, sometimes we're invited in as partners, and sometimes people just like to do their own thing, which is perfectly fine. Um, back in the day, I think Elizabeth City Downtown and the Main Street program was known mostly for potato festival and events, and then you know, some other improvements like benches and trash cans and more aesthetic type things. And uh we have slowly but surely changed what we do to be more of a solid economic development uh type of organization. So we do assist people when they're doing projects with facilitating through the planning, building inspections, and help guide them when they have questions. So we're we're kind of a conduit. Um, so we were we were super involved in the weatherly lofts and the Betsy Town Flats projects from a partner perspective and a facilitator perspective. Um and then some of the smaller projects, um, it just depends on what the the owner and business owner wants.

Izzy: 12:43

That makes a lot of sense. You've talked a lot about the weatherly lofts and the Betsy Town flats so far. Are those like no, no, that's not a bad thing at all. Um, are would you say those are like your favorite projects? Do you have a favorite? Do you not play favorites?

Debbie: 12:56

I cannot. I don't, I don't my favorite project. My favorite thing is always the one that I'm working on. Um, the new thing because I love new and exciting. Um I think I talk about them because I saw the difference it made in how people looked at downtown Elizabeth City. And I think it kind of um broke a barrier and helped with the momentum. But at the same time, there were multiple things happening at the same time. So uh Ghost Harbor Brewing Company opened up and Seven Sounds was in the works, and uh the Fowler building was being renovated, and uh Hoppin' Johnz opened downtown. So there were a lot of things that were starting to happen kind of at the same time that created a perfect storm of, you know, bam, wow, now all of a sudden Elizabeth City is super cool. But I would say if I had to pick a favorite, um it would be the Alley Rejuvenation Projects because I think they create open community spaces and tie the specific development together to create more of a conducive downtown as a whole. So Palin's Alley, Fowler Alley, Ives Alley, and now Pool Street Park, they would be kind of my favorite smaller projects that I think um as a community we should be really proud of.

Izzy: 14:33

So obviously you're saying that ECGI had a hand in in Palin's Alley's rejuvenation, but uh do you feel like that's probably one of the biggest improvements uh in and around Elizabeth City over the past years?

Debbie: 14:46

I think from uh changing the culture of downtown, Palin's Alley was a clear starting point. Um when when we were working on Palin's Alley uh and working with the businesses and working with the city, there were so many entities that were involved in that that had to partner and say, yes, this can be done. You know, the city uh, the city uh administration, building inspections, fire department, uh all the businesses, the ABC Commission, uh, the health department, you know, they all had to be on board. And I don't think, I know I did not. I knew it was gonna be a cool aesthetic change, but I don't think any of us had any idea of how it would change the culture of downtown and how uh it would create change the energy of downtown and and uh what we call the entertainment district. Um and it was almost immediate the change that Palin's Alley had in downtown.

Izzy: 15:58

I definitely think it brings it brings multiple generations downtown, first of all. It definitely, as you're saying, brings a different kind of energy that was down there. I feel like Colonial Street has seen a lot of growth. Um but you did talk about Pool Street Park that opened a week ago today. Um can you give me a little bit of insight into like the process that went into the renovation, the redesign? Obviously, you guys went in and saw all of those tree roots were overgrown. Uh, it was kind of becoming a hazard, and I think that kind of really kickstarted, right?

Debbie: 16:34

Um, it it kickstarted again. So we weren't the first drivers of that project back, you know, the project was done, I think, in 1950 something, and I'm not very good with dates and timelines, but uh 50 some years ago, I don't know, don't I'll skip that part because I can't do math in my head. Um a long time ago. And as as early as 20 years ago, parks and recreation had said the park needs a redo because of the root structure. And so it had been requested a couple of times and there just wasn't um the funding for it, it wasn't a priority, and it just, you know, because you can't do everything. And so when we got involved and we just realized that along with parks and recreation, the trees were overgrown. It was it had definitely ruined the integrity of the park. The pool, the the fountain wasn't working any longer, the lights were starting to not work because you know the plumbing and the electrical were all underneath the park. So it had it had it was slowly but surely ruining the park. And it was just a safety hazard to walk through. And um we requested permission of the city and the county. Hey, can can we can we work on this? If we serve as the lead organization and put up seed money, can we put together a plan? And if we can get it funded, can we move forward? And they were, you know, thumbs up. Um, and I think, you know, in the back of their minds, they were like, you're never gonna be able to find the money for this. Um but we were able to partner with some great organizations and get it funded. But as far as project-wise and scope of the project, um, it was another one of those things where you know it's gonna be a big project, but you have no idea. Um, I mean, the root structure, we had multiple arborists come in to determine which trees had to be taken out. And we did our best to say, you know, are you sure we can't leave this tree? Can we leave this tree? And we tried to find, you know, not take out the trees because we are a tree city, so we knew it was gonna be a big deal to take out the trees. Uh, all of them said, you have to take these trees out. And if you take one out and don't take the rest, they're gonna die because their roots are so entwined with each other. So we were able to save the Grand Oak at the end, which I'm very happy about. Um, but we took out eight other holly trees and um I forget the other the name of the other trees, anyway. And then they had to dig down probably a foot and a half to two feet to kind of clear everything out. Wow. And some of the root structures were four feet, and they were just so dense. Um, you could see why they were causing the issues. So they had to take out the trees and drill down and remove all the roots and then uh pull out the materials and then level it and put new materials in and redo the plumbing for the for the fountain. And we were lucky enough to be able to save the fountain, which was in honor of Miles Clark, who was a philanthropist here uh back in the day with the BAM program. And I think there's still a Miles Clark Foundation. So it was a another one of those things. Everything is a team effort from a financial perspective and funding perspective uh to the actual work being done. We worked with Evolve Design on the main part of the project, but um the electric department, the public works department, the streets department all had involvement in that project. And it looks great.

Izzy: 20:32

It came out really well. David, have you seen it?

David: 20:35

Yeah, yeah, I've I have seen it. It was very exciting. We had a matter of fact, we covered the ribbon cutting in the in the front page of the newspaper. I was the one who did that. That's right. You did that. You did it. Congratulations. I saw your name. Thank you. I um I have a question uh about this. Is all encompassing and I'm I'm not trying to jump forward, but all this stuff is it is cool. I I'm not saying that, oh, it's cool. It is cool. It and this is again kind of coming from an outsider's perspective. It is great, great. Um, I love the alley. That's a really you can you can say the alley and you've hit several businesses, so I can say that. That that's that's cool. And Colonial Street, I I agree with you. Um, so this may not be in your sweet spot. Uh in other words, what you're really focused on right now, and it's because there are other people are doing it. There was a tourism individual, professional, at one time told me that in order for us to let the world know that we are a great destination, I've got to let the people know in my own community that it's a great destination. In other words, I want the people in my community no longer to go outside for fun. I want them to know that they can stay inside for fun. Okay. All this development uh leads to that. So what hand do you have in trying to get the word out? And I'm not talking advertising, marketing, industry, the field, the the the potato festival and things like that. How do you get involved in in that type of in that type of uh task, job, responsibility, making sure that that as many people as possible know about all the great things that are going on?

Debbie: 22:22

We partner uh with tourism, with Visit Elizabeth City. We always say that you know one of our key partners is is tourism, because we definitely market to our own community, but then you have to market to the outside community. And I and I've said you know when I first started that our community lives or dies by our community, and then tourism for us is gravy because we're not yet a tourist destination. We're working on it, we've made great strides. There are a lot of cool things that are happening that do make us a better tourist destination, you know, critical mass of things to do. And that's why uh we work really hard to promote all the events and activities that there's always something to do in Elizabeth City and in downtown because people will come to your community from uh for an event or activity. So people will come here for the Coast Guard Marathon, people will come here for the potato festival with that being their goal. But what's gonna drive uh how we build our community as a tourism destination is when anyone comes at any time, there is something cool to do. Um, and then they're gonna say, oh my gosh, you know, let's go back there, or let's look at their schedule of events and see that they have, you know, live music at multiple destinations on a Friday night or a Saturday night. Um, they have Splash Week, they have First Friday Art Walk. Um, so we do our best to uh help the businesses to advertise their events and we do our best to host certain events throughout the year. We don't like to be an event organizer because we don't have enough manpower to do that. Uh, but what we really try to focus on is working with the businesses to curate what's happening to create experiences like First Friday artwork, like Oct-POE-ber, like you know, uh the window decorating and visit Elizabeth Cities, um, the lead organization on the hot cocoa crawl. So um to answer your question more directly, I would say we have a a big responsibility in trying to create that experience atmosphere so we can build on our existing tourist base, as well as make sure that we're providing cool experiences for our community and making sure that people know all the things that are happening. And that's a um, you know, communication and marketing and advertising is much different. And I'm speak, you know, you know this. It used to be, you know, print, direct mail, and three television stations. That's where most of us got our information with some radio, and now there are hundreds of ways that we get our information, and there's no one way to communicate with everyone. You know, there's some people get their information by TikTok, some email, some text, some, you know, still get television advertising. You know, a lot of people still look to the local newspaper for events and activities in the local news. Um, so that's critical, but there's no one way to get the information out.

David: 26:13

That's something we're we're we have we're trying to get the word out about how we've kind of been in front of that because um we have our fingers in in all those areas and we're we're very good at it. We just have to get the word out, but that's all that's all our commercial. It's not uh not your side. I I understand what you're saying. I guess I didn't want to put you in a position of having to do all the marketing because you're you're it sounds like you're kind of building the reason why you would market it. And really the marketing of it falls in another you you contribute to it, you know.

Debbie: 26:48

I think we have a responsibility for marketing it. Um and the same with how we get our information being so fragmented, there there everyone has a responsibility to market. You know, as a as a small business, you have the responsibility to market your events and activities. Um but so you know, between tourism, Elizabeth City Downtown, uh the chamber, um, and then individual marketing efforts, we all we all play a role in that in the local media.

David: 27:20

Downtown is is is cool. Um is there any is there any negative feeling from other areas of Elizabeth City about downtown? Downtown gets all the all the attention because it is downtown. It is what it is. It's hard to say downtown and not mean downtown.

Debbie: 27:40

Um I think I think we grew it's I say fast, but it really wasn't fast. But um we have really hammered downtown, downtown, because that's that's our role. You know, Elizabeth City downtown is in our name as an organization. So that's our mission. Um and as some other areas of the city have grown, I think um there were some questions as how do we how do we market other areas of the city like we're marketing downtown. Um, I'm not gonna say negativity, I think questions would be the better, the better way to put it that you know, the the Tanglewood sector, uh that there was some talk about creating a midtown uh and marketing that, and there's a lot of potential to do that. Um, you know, Elizabeth City Downtown as an organization is a nonprofit organization. So many people think we are the uh the city of Elizabeth City because Elizabeth City is in our name. Um, but we're a we're a nonprofit entity, and that's our mission. So um, you know, we did have some discussions with uh some other business owners about how would you create a group of folks, whether it's a nonprofit or a business association that can focus on how to market that area. So I think there's a there's still a room for a lot of conversations around that and room for a lot of partnerships.

Izzy: 29:08

I definitely think the chamber of commerce plays a part in that as well. I feel like when people think about the chamber of commerce, they think downtown, but they represent a lot of businesses all throughout the area. Yes, they represent businesses in Camden, um, all throughout Pasquatine County. I definitely think that helps. Um, I am gonna pivot just a little bit because I do want to talk about something that you brought up earlier. You kind of briefly mentioned the Hot Coco Crawl. And I think that's one of those events that definitely gives people something to do that are from here, but it definitely is bringing in people from outside of town. Um, I have worked in restaurants downtown. I used to work at Hoppin' Johnz. And when the hot cocoa crawl was really getting going, we would get people from up in Virginia Beach, we would get people from the Outer Banks, and they would just say, Oh, we're just here for the hot call. Coca-Crawl. Um I definitely think things like that bring bring tourism in. Um that's getting ready to start. It's getting ready to start in two weeks on the 28th. Is that right? Yes. That I feel like that also incorporates a lot of businesses. Um they're mostly downtown, but are there any businesses that are kind of like right outside downtown this year that are going to be participating? Do you guys have the full list of participants yet?

Debbie: 30:28

Um, visit Elizabeth City does, and they are already working on promoting it on their website. And it's visitelizabethcity.com , I think forward slash uh hot cocoa crawl. Or if you go to their site, visitelizabethcity.com and search for Hot Coco Crawl, it'll bring up all the participants. And I'm sorry I don't have that list. Oh no, that's fine. Um, but that is something that was started five years ago by Visit Elizabeth City, the tourism agency, and they were like, well, what can we do that's really cool? And um, we'll bring some uh focus to Elizabeth City, and they hit on the hot cocoa crawl, and it's another one of those things that the businesses decide what they're going to do, and then uh tourism curates that into an experience, and it has grown over the last five years. Um, it has gotten national attention. This year it's already been featured on some regional television. I know it's got some exposure in the Daily Advance, and um uh I want to say there are over 30 businesses participating, and a big chunk of them are downtown, but there are other businesses outside of downtown that are participating.

David: 31:39

Is Elizabeth City the really the hot cocoa capital of the world?

Debbie: 31:43

It is. It is. Okay. Is there like a trademark for that?

Izzy: 31:48

Is that how that works?

Debbie: 31:48

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think you know, it's one of those corny things where you say, okay, how can we build upon this? And uh, Corinna, who had the vision at the time, Googled Hot Cocoa Capital of the World, and there was not one. And so now there is.

David: 32:02

I am so impressed. I really am. I love that.

Debbie: 32:05

I would love to see it expand throughout the year. So if you're gonna call yourself the hot cocoa capital of the world, you should have hot cocoa anytime, any place.

David: 32:13

It's kind of hard in July and August. Uh-huh.

Debbie: 32:16

It's like kind of like iced hot cocoa. People is that just like chocolate milk? Maybe. People drink coffee all year. Right. You know, people eat soup all year. So why not hot cocoa? It's a feel-good thing.

David: 32:30

Okay.

Izzy: 32:30

But it's also one of the things that we use to kick off the like holiday season around here. There's quite a few, I feel like, really good holiday events around here. Um, those are also coming up.

David: 32:42

And do you really have to crawl for the hot cocoa?

Debbie: 32:45

Well, by the time you finish the hot cocoa, if you hit some of the ones that are adult hot cocoa, you might be crawling.

David: 32:54

There we go. I think I'll spend more time there.

Debbie: 32:56

Yeah. The cool thing about the hot, oh, one cool thing about the hot cocoa crawl is you don't have to do it. It's not like a bar crawl where you have to do it all in one night. Right. It is from November 28th through the first weekend in January this year, January 3rd. So you can have, you know, a couple on one night and then come down again. You can work your way through it over the entire month in a week. So it's it's not something you have to do all at once.

David: 33:23

That's good. That's a good aspect of it. I like that. Yeah.

Izzy: 33:26

28th is that's the day after Thanksgiving. There's gonna be like the lighting downtown. I feel like that's obviously it's a way to kick off the holiday season. It's such a good time to do it. There's so many events that I feel like people are going to be out and about. And it's just like it's another thing to do on top of that. There's like there's the boat parade that's coming up. Apparently, I'm gonna be on a boat. I'm gonna be on a boat. Oh, wow. Um, hopefully I don't get seasick.

David: 33:51

The boat is not the SS minnow, so you don't have to worry about it.

Izzy: 33:54

There's there's the regular parade, obviously. There's a lot of different events that really celebrate the holiday season around here. Um is there anything uh missing? What's what's included? What's something people might not know about?

Debbie: 34:09

Uh so it all starts with the holiday illumination on the 28th, which is the day after Thanksgiving. We are moving it back down to the courthouse this year, and we're incorporating Pool Street Park into the kind of the flavor, and then folks will come down to the uh commercial. Yes, yeah. Is it a big marshmallow or it's a giant hot cocoa cup?

David: 34:33

Oh, no, there you go.

Debbie: 34:34

That you can stand in and take your photo in. Yes. Yeah, it's pretty cool.

David: 34:38

I'm there.

Debbie: 34:39

There you go. Um, so that's kind of the kickoff, and then the next day, of course, is small business Saturday. And um, and then the Hot Cocoa Crawl starts the same day. The window decorating, we call it a contest, um, but it's more of an experience that starts December 1st. So you can come down and see all the beautifully decorated windows. And then the first weekend in December is First Friday Art Walk, which is the biggest one of the year, four to seven, followed by the lighted boat parade at seven on the waterfront. And then following that is a cool thing that Elizabeth City State does through the community connections is their Christmas choir performance, and that's at eight o'clock. So you can do some you know cool things on the first Friday. Um, and where is that choir performance? That is in their performing arts center, the Mickey Burnham uh performing arts center, and that starts at eight o'clock. Beautiful. It's the Elizabeth City State choir, and they do uh Christmas songs. Uh it's just a great way to get into the holiday spirit. And uh let's see what else. Is the parade on the sixth this year? Christmas parade is always the first Saturday in December, which I believe is December 6th. And during the day, that day we have SantaCon. I think it's our third year of Santa Con from one to five, and then the holiday tree beehive hair party, which you decorate your beehive hair and wander around with the Santas. It's a cool experience in downtown. That's from one to five, and that's growing. And um the 12 shops of Christmas Boutique Crawl. I can't remember the dates of that. She's gonna kill me, but um, that is coming up in December. And then, of course, all the businesses are doing their fun stuff. Um, also on First Friday Art Walk, Palin's Alley with Hoppin' Johnz is doing the um Winter Wonderland as part of First Friday. We'll have or she'll have the mule and carriage rides and Santa and Mrs. Claus. Um, and we're working on putting together a list of where Santa will be all season so that people can uh arrange for their kids to visit with Santa. You know, back in the day when we were growing up, the only place to really see Santa was at the mall.

Izzy: 37:09

I know.

Debbie: 37:10

And since, you know, the mall has changed their format, that's not a thing anymore. But uh the cool thing about that is that now there's Santa in multiple different locations and you have multiple opportunities. And um we are doing, we're partnering with Randy Williams to do carriage rides throughout the month of December. That's so funny. Um, and so I again I can't remember the dates off the top of my head, but we have it on our down Elizabeth City downtown calendar. I think it's three Saturdays and one Sunday from uh first Friday through the end of the year.

Izzy: 37:48

And the end of the year on New Year's Eve, there's gonna be a lantern parade. You guys are partnering with Arts of the Albemarle for that, right? Yes, yes. That is how did that come about? How do people participate in that?

Debbie: 38:01

So that came about with um Sue Seidel, who had been to Durham and Chapel Hill, and she had worked with Gowrie, who creates lantern workshops, and then Arts of the Albemarle uh has a grant, and they uh invested to bring Gowrie and her team here to have some lantern making workshops. I met her, she was incredible. She is fabulous, she's high energy and very creative for she and her husband. So they came to Elizabeth City, I think, twice, and taught people how to make these lanterns. And um usually culminates in a lantern parade so people can carry their lanterns through a community. Um, so it's just the brainstorming with Gowrie and her team and Arts of the Albemarle. Um, and we just said, you know, what's a time frame that is close to when the workshops happen, but not in the middle of all the holiday stuff where we don't have something happening. And New Year's Eve typically is not a big event day in Elizabeth City. So we picked New Year's Eve.

Izzy: 39:13

So it's now it will be.

Debbie: 39:15

Now it will be. Now it will be. And I think um we had a meeting last week um with Pearl and Sue, Rebecca, myself, and Lauren. And I think there are at least 200 lanterns that have been made. Wow. And they're still working. So um it'll start small, but we're gonna start at the plan is to start at Poole Street Park in the on in the roadway, because the lights there are a little bit too low to be having the lanterns and um and walk down Main Street, cross over behind Pine and Porch, and then walk up Colonial, come around back to Main Street, and then end um near Palin's Alley. Because they'll they will have live music that night and just have a celebration. It'll be simple. It won't it'll be one of the simple yet elegant. Yes, yes. Um, and then the lanterns will um have you know the battery-operated lights, not the fire because we don't want to burn down anything.

Izzy: 40:23

Wouldn't that be a way to go out? So now that we've talked about the past, we've talked about the present, I just want to ask you about the future. Where do you see Elizabeth City in five years?

Debbie: 40:35

Um you know, with the things that are happening on Water Street, that is really gonna change the whole dynamic of Water Street, which uh is really a great project uh because we're gonna change the flow of the traffic and make it much more walkable. So our vision from a downtown perspective or from as Elizabeth City downtown um is to work around downtown as the anchors, uh, the roadway. So downtown is essentially not all inclusive, but when we talk about what downtown is, it's Water Street to Road Street, Elizabeth Street to Ehringhaus Street. And we've worked really hard on improving the Water Street corridor, creating the anchor there with Weatherly, um, going down Elizabeth Street, creating the anchor with Betsy Town Flats. So our vision is to work up Road Street and uh create an atmosphere on Road Street that is very welcoming as you're driving into the city, not just downtown, but as you're driving into the city, and then round that corner to the left on Ehringhaus Street, so that you know there are there are solid anchors that represent what downtown is as you come in from any direction. Um, and then of course, um, you know, the museum um and the shipyard are considered part of downtown, as well as North Water St where Jeanette Brothers is and MACU. So our vision is to um expand, expand the development and growth to encompass that area and um and create the welcoming aesthetic and build on the development of what we've done down here close to the waterfront for the whole 38-block area. As a downtown, we have a huge, huge footprint in comparison to many other downtowns. So there's a lot more to do to bring it all together. And we focused in certain clusters to with the goal of you know clustering it and growing outward. And that has happened with the development, you know, with the senior center being there, with um the market uh being there on Poindexter, Eclectic Jewelry, the record store on Fearing Street. Um because back in the day, you know, there was really not a whole lot on Fearing Street or Poindexter Street. And I'll tell you when when I first started, and I would meet people to show them spaces downtown uh for you know recruitment purposes, everyone wanted to be on Main Street. No one wanted to be on Poindexter, no one wanted to be on Colonial. And now when I meet people, they're like, I want to be over there. I, you know, so their vision of what downtown is has really grown.

David: 43:49

You mentioned anchors. What kind of anchors do you you don't always have your pick, but what would you like to see as far as anchors when you're in talking about some of the development going on?

Debbie: 44:00

For Road Street, you know, with with the type of zoning that is, would love to see that be um small, they call it small manufacturing, mini manufacturing, but things like what what Muddies is already doing, you know, they're they're um roasting their own beans on site, would love to see uh like a distillery or a winery, you know, or you know, brew, you know, we're doing the that with the breweries downtown. They're on site manufacturing their own product, but they're also serving it as well. So like a cool chocolateer or something like that is what I envision for an artist co-op and things like that is what it is being envisioned for the Road Street corridor. Um, and then Ehringhaus Street is because it's kind of connecting with the general business, is more conducive to uh maybe some larger uh storefronts uh would love to see a small bodega, small grocery store. You know, that's been at the top of my list forever. I would love that. Um but um that you know, there's a there's a critical mass of product that you have to have. So it's a little bit more difficult. You know, in New York and DC, you walk up the street and there's a bodega on every corner. Um, I don't think we have the the residential density for that right now, but being able to recruit uh a mid-level type of grocery store in that area where we have the ability to to do infill or a new build rather than a redevelopment, because the parking, a parking lot is going to be key to something like that, to recruiting something like that. Or multi-use, multi-use, or um, you know, there's been talk in that area of even a small conference center, maybe a small hotel. So a small hotel, whether it's a boutique hotel or a chain hotel, would prefer a boutique hotel. Um and a a bodega grocery store are very high on my list for what we would what we would like to see. And I think at this point we're almost at the point where we need it.

Izzy: 46:18

I feel like someone can do that with this other hotel.

Debbie: 46:28

That's my sound. Yes, I feel like this is the boutique hotel, that would be prime for that spot. And that's another key anchor point um creating uh some development in that area.

David: 46:48

I've I'm I've got a whole other picture. That's not that you haven't changed my mind, you've you've helped fill in some of the blanks. Uh that I'm excited about what I've seen. Again, I think it's for the third time I'll say I'm I'm the outsider, if you will. I I'm I have a home here, I plan on staying here, I love Elizabeth City. Part of the reason that I love Elizabeth City is because of downtown. Um and it's I I I've I've lived in in another uh excuse me, but I lived in New Bern for a while, and there's always talk about what they've done, and and I didn't watch it, I just saw the end result. And I'm hearing and seeing things that are somewhat similar, scale differently, but very similar, and they've done a wonderful job. I can see that that what is has happened here is is really exciting, and that's one of the reasons I like to stay. Um so it's obvious that uh somebody's doing something right. Uh and uh we at the Daily Advance want to really want to make sure that we're an advocate for what's going on. We're not always going to be the cheerleader, but we want to be an advocate for for the the positive things that are going on and help uh maybe point out where they things could steer differently, at least in our opinion. But uh, what I'm hearing is uh a lot of a lot of good things, and I'm really excited about the hot cocoa crawl now that you have you reminded me it's for the whole the whole month, and so um I have some friends that I will be crawling with. Um I'm looking forward to that.

Debbie: 48:23

There you go. And I do want to say that you know, we talk a lot about the new things that have happened in the last five years or seven years or ten years. Um, but we have to give a lot of credit to those mainstay businesses that have been here for the duration, you know, the muddies of the world, the coasters. Um and I always hate to start naming things, you know, because I you forget someone, but you know, coastal office supply, in stitches. So some of the folks that have been here and and have seen the ebbs and the flows and the ups and the downs. Um, so they deserve a lot of credit in addition to all the the new things that are happening. And and again, it's really cool to see. And COVID was really a tough time for everyone, but I will say that that was really the start of our community appreciating our local businesses, and you know, in spite of the thing, everything that was that happened, we had a lot of new businesses open. And I think it kind of was um uh the start of people really appreciating the impact of our local businesses.

Izzy: 49:43

Kind of playing off of what David said. He said he's an an outsider. As someone who's an insider, I feel like those anchor businesses, uh, especially the ones that have already been here, they played such a big factor in kind of I feel like allowing downtown to grow. And I feel like you're right. I feel like COVID definitely changed a lot of things where well, also, you know, a lot of people realized they weren't taking advantage of all that downtown has to offer. You know, when you're locked up in your house and you want desperately to go out and do something, I feel like that definitely uh changes your perspective. I was growing up here. If you wanted to do something on a Friday night, you went and sat in the Walmart parking lot and and now there's all this stuff to do for so many, so many different age groups around here. I definitely think the growth downtown has been instrumental in in making Elizabeth City a better place to live.

Debbie: 50:44

I agree.

Izzy: 50:45

And you've been a part of that.

Debbie: 50:46

Thank you. It's been a team effort. Like I say, you know, we have a very strong board, have a lot of cool businesses doing a lot of cool things, and that's what makes the product of Elizabeth City and downtown Elizabeth City a marketable product as a whole. So it's cool to see, and I love it.

Izzy: 51:04

Well, thank you so much for coming on our very first podcast episode. Thank you. Uh David, do you have anything else?

David: 51:10

Again, thank you very much. I've heard nothing but wonderful things about you when I first came here, and that's all very, very true. Thank you very much for what you've done for Elizabeth City, and thank you very much for what you will continue to do, and I promise you that we'll do everything in our power to continue to be an advocate for the city.

Debbie: 51:29

Appreciate you always being a great partner.

Izzy: 51:31

Thank you so much, and thank you to all of our listeners for tuning in to our very first episode. Uh, please check back in for more episodes.

David: 51:40

We'll be back for more.