State of the Town: A peek at the future

During her State of the Town speech Monday night at the Renaissance Centre, Mayor Vivian Jones revealed two economic possibilities that could have substantial impacts on Wake Forest along with a home-grown, hands-on approach to grow local businesses.

First she said there had been two years of discussion between Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and the town-sponsored Wake Forest Business and Industry Partnership that have led the town board to fund a development master plan and market analysis now underway by the School of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill.

The seminary owns a little more than 200 acres between the campus and Capital Boulevard, Durham Road and Stadium Road, an inheritance from Wake Forest College.

That – or some of the land – could be the future site for the live-work-play project the seminary and the WFBIP have agreed on with a focus on technology-related business.

Then Jones moved swiftly to speak about the North Carolina Wireless Research Center, a startup backed by the town which has grown from a staff of three to 16 employees. It has expanded from 4,000 to 12,000 square feet and helped 81 startup companies in Wake Forest and the Raleigh area. “The Wireless center is collaborating with other groups on several strategies that will benefit the entire state,” Jones said.

“In addition, they are in formal discussions with one of the world’s largest defense, security and aerospace companies for collaboration and shared office space in Wake Forest. We anticipate formal announcements in the coming months about these initiatives.”

Finally, she spoke of the Wake Forest Rotary Club which last year held the first Launch Wake Forest program to assist and teach entrepreneurship to startup business people. “The [Wake Forest Area] Chamber and the town worked with the Rotary Club to offer a very successful first session.” The second session will begin soon with a new group of entrepreneurs.

She talked about the transportation projects underway, including the Stadium Drive complete street makeover, widening of Ligon Mill Road to the west, and three future projects – the completion of the Smith Creek Greenway, the changes to Durham Road and the bridge over the railroad crossing on Rogers Road which will widen all of that street from South Main Street to Forestville Road/Heritage Lake Road to five lanes.

There are the big projects – the Joyner Park Community Center that should open in the fall, the cover for the amphitheater stage in Joyner Park that should be ready before the first of Six Sundays in Spring on April 28, and the renovations and additions to the Northern Wake Senior Center that will probably be ready for use in July.

She explained why the town purchased the former SunTrust Bank building between South White and Brooks streets. It was “because we realized that corner of White and Elm is an important property for the continuation of our downtown Renaissance. We need to have a say in what type of business is located on this property.”

That led to Jones praising last year’s renovations of the Renaissance Centre, increasing its ability to offer entertainment and hospitality to a broad range of events.

And she had to mention the Holding Park Aquatic Center which finally opened over the 2018 Labor Day weekend. “We are looking forward to having this wonderful facility back in use full time with extended hours.”

This year the town will be installing 25 miles of fiber infrastructure to connect all the town facilities including its power stations.

Also, Ting Internet has announced it will make Wake Forest its third Wake County town with fast fiber optic service that is expected to begin serving customers this summer. There will be a public meeting in April with full information.

There were two special events in Wake Forest in 2018. First, in April, public power lineworkers from all over the country came to town for the American Public Power Association’s Lineworkers’ Rodeo. For a full day the men and the one woman lineworker competed before an enthusiastic audience to demonstrate who is the best and fastest in rebuilding and restoring power to their customers.

Then in October, more than 21,000 people came to Joyner Park in Wake Forest where The Wall That Heals, a three-quarter replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., was on display for three days. “This event certainly highlighted our community’s respect for and dedication to honoring our veterans.”

Turning again to the future, Jones said the town commissioners are united in its commitment to Vision Zero: No loss of life on our roads is acceptable. “A committee to develop a plan to implement Vision Zero in Wake Forest has been appointed. You will be hearing much more about this.”

Her final thought was an opinion article by David Brooks about localism. “He said that localism brings conservatives and liberals together around the thought that people are happiest when their lives are enmeshed in caring face-to-face relationships, building their communities together.”