Page 5 - Robeson Living Summer 2022

LET’S DO SOME BUSINESS

By Mayor Charles Kemp

toy or a new piece of clothing. Men, many of them farm-
ers, discussed the latest tobacco prices. Downtown was
like a living breathing organism. It was alive. It was vi-
brant. It was the heartbeat of Fairmont. And then it died.

There came a day when both textiles and tobacco slow-
ly vanished as economic powerhouses. What followed
has been a shrinking economy, fewer active businesses,
empty buildings, and less shoppers.

People found other surrounding towns to shop in, jobs to
earn a living from, and places to be amused by. Slowly
Fairmont curled up and has been taking a long nap. At
least until now. She is waking up.

In every era or time period there comes a moment of
change. A flashpoint where a different way is sought.
Fairmont is in that moment right now. Although the
booming days described here can’t be duplicated a re-
birth has begun and a new downtown is slowly emerg-
ing. There is a subtle degree of progress being initiated, a
change toward optimism, a feeling of hope anew.

What has helped this feeling emerge you may ask? Cre-
ative minds? Master planners? Passionate love for the
community? All of these are causes of Fairmont’s down-
town rebirth and it grows bigger each day. Exposure is
the key to revitalization of our downtown. The secret is
to bring people to our downtown and show them what is
there. That’s what we’ll do on Saturday June 25th. It’s
called the Summer Business Expo. An idea presented by
downtown businesspeople and elected leaders alike.

Please indulge me for a few lines while I take you back a few years Dozens of merchandise and food vendors have been in-
into the early days of Fairmont and her fabled history. We won’t go vited to set up “shop” in the streets of downtown from 9:00-3:00 that
back all the way to her start, just to the boom years of tobacco and day and sell to their hearts content. For no fee. The shoppers will
textiles around the 50’s and 60’s. Some readers of this article will take advantage of the outside mall atmosphere and shop for great bar-
identify immediately with those years and be drawn down their own gains. At the same time, in the enclosed environment of downtown
memory lane. For you who aren’t from Fairmont a somewhat simi- buildings vendors can “shop” themselves for a possible new business
lar image of your own community might be etched in your memory. location. No traffic to look out for or walk carefully around. No traf-
Fairmont’s downtown, although small in scale, was a powerful strip fic at all. Just tents, shoppers, and an eye for a new store or two to
of concrete, brick, and asphalt. It brimmed with life, bustled with open. They’re there for the taking.
energy, and oozed with smells combining tobacco and various food
items. It was the center of Fairmont life. There will be other strategies and entrepreneur efforts along the way
to downtown’s revival but what began on January 1st is now spread-
During tobacco season the streets and shops lining Main Street oozed ing and soon new businesses will open, apartments will spring up on
with activity and cars competed for the rare spaces. Shoppers milled 2nd floors, shoppers will return, and downtown can lift her head and
in stores checking out bargains, paying off charge accounts, social- smile again. When that happens, we’ll be ready to “do some business
izing with friends. Children tugged their mother’s skirts hoping for a again”. And you can then drive and shop in Fairmont’s reborn down-
town. We’re building it right now.
Robeson Living ~ Summer 2022 Page 5