Revitalizing downtown High Point

HIGH POINT — For decades, it has been the center of the world’s largest home furnishings


show, but downtown High Point soon may become a hub for those outside the furniture industry.
After nearly two years of study, the High Point City Council unanimously approved a plan Monday to revitalize their downtown and surrounding neighborhoods.
The plan will add multiuse developments to several intersections, limit where showroom space can grow and expand housing options such as downtown apartments.
“This is the most ambitious land-use plan the city’s ever undertaken,” said Tom Terrell, chairman of the steering committee for the Core City Plan. “It’s time to implement the ideas and move from discussion to action.”
In 2016, the city earmarked about $150,000 for a study of downtown redevelopment. The Walker Collaborative, a Tennessee-based consulting firm, designed the study and presented it to the public last year.
High Point, as Greensboro and Winston-Salem have, will look at developing multiuse centers that feature offices, retail space and housing.
The plan calls for about eight major intersections throughout the city’s core to be redeveloped with services such as drug and grocery stores that residents within a five-minute walking distance can use. Washington Drive and Centennial Street could be the first targeted crossing.
The plan would limit furniture showroom development to the area that encompasses most of the existing showrooms. It also calls for more office and retail space to be built around the showroom district.
“We want to live, work and play within walking distance,” said Jay Wagner, a member of the steering committee. “This plan is a great step in that direction.”
The plan also proposes a sports arena and downtown convention center. Terrell said these ideas aren’t part of the short-term goals but may be worth considering later.
Some downtown-area residents said they supported the plan, but they also wanted to see more included in it.
At one point, the plan called for improvements to the historic Johnson Street district, such as turning the one-way streets into two-way roads and slowing traffic to allow greater pedestrian access. These ideas were dropped from the final proposal, but residents told the City Council they would be revisited.
Terrell said the next step would be for the council to create an oversight group and hire a professional to begin implementing the plan.
“You will see action,” High Point Mayor Becky Smothers said.
“This won’t sit on a shelf collecting dust.”
Contact Sue Schultz at 883-4422, Ext. 232, or sschultz@news-record.com