Fayetteville’s City Council moving on from Market House debate. We can, too.

The Fayetteville City Council has taken a big step in repurposing the Market House, approving a redesigned space near the building that will give pedestrians more room to spread out.

These seemingly modest changes are still kind of a big deal and part of an effort that city officials and residents have been working on since 2021, with Fayetteville-Cumberland Human Relations playing a central role. The historic building in downtown’s center — situated on an island in a traffic circle — was once the city’s symbol but in recent years has been more controversial because enslaved people were sold there.

I have seen the dramatic decline in the Market House’s image in my lifetime. It culminated in a young man’s attempt to set the building on fire during riots in June of 2020 that grew out of a protest over George Floyd.

I was initially hesitant but am now 100% in favor of repurposing, which will cost about $1.5 million and will include an updated plaque explaining the building’s difficult history and will highlight Black Fayetteville residents' achievements and celebrate other cultures, too, through public art, spoken-word performances and digital and written information.

This is the kind of compromise the city has been looking for — whether we all knew it or not.

It is time to move on. 

And move forward.

More:Market House: Fayetteville council OKs approval to repurpose racially sensitive symbol

More room to walk

At their Feb. 5 work session, City Council members voted to approve a redesign of the intersection that extends brick pavers into where the mural “Black Lives Do Matter” currently sits. The design makes more of a square pedestrian area around the Market House, but still allows traffic around the circle. 

Rob Stone, the city’s construction manager, presented the council with two design options. He said both improved safety, which a consultants’ study showed was something people around here value. For one, there is more space for pedestrians. 

But also: “When you narrow that lane it has a tendency to slow your traffic down a little bit,” Stone said. 

Between April and August, SLF+A, the architect, will put out documents for bid, the city will do a request for proposals to do the work and the city hopes the council can approve a contract.

Mayor Pro Tem Kathy Jensen, who was presiding in the absence of Mayor Mitch Colvin, said she liked the design that she and most of her colleagues had settled on — design option “B,” which has more pavers and would cost between an estimated $700,000 to $800,000. The other option would have cost an estimated $500,000 to $800,000.

“I’m going to tell you why,” Jensen said. “We’re trying to bring people down to stay, play, Fay.”

She noted the expanded footprint of the area. 

“It’s more room for people to gather,” she said.

Along with Jensen, council members Mario Benavente, Lynne Greene, D.J Haire and Brenda McNair voted for the proposal. Members Courtney Banks-McLaughlin, Malik Davis and Deno Hondros voted against.

Hondros raised a concern that delivery trucks for downtown restaurants may find it impossible to navigate the new, narrower traffic circle.

What about the mural?

As for the mural, the other part of which says “End Racism Now,” the designs make clear it will be replaced. But that has been part of the plan from the outset — they were not meant to be permanent. 

There was a kerfuffle the last time the city tried to erase the mural, in 2021, but that happened because residents had been given no notice and social media reacted to suddenly one morning seeing work crews with blow torches and tar blacking out the letters.

What compromise looks like

Friends, what this all sounds like to me is moving on and that’s OK. 

I know some people want to tear it down. I have heard that sentiment from many Black folks in my time, and a few white folks, too. But that won’t happen — the structure has federally protected historic status, as discovered by the rioter who got hit with a five-year federal sentence for setting it alight.

So, a repurpose is as good as it gets. This is what compromise looks like.

For those who may seek the Market House’s return as a symbol of the city — a repurpose is also your ticket to ride. There is not another bus coming. 

The building’s historic status will protect it from any complete makeover; so there are no worries for we history lovers. 

But no one doing marketing for Fayetteville can seriously, in 2024, dig into their toolkit and sell to an ever-more diverse nation a property where slaves were sold at a building disliked by a large percentage of its own city.

A powerful backdrop

The extra space will play to the Market House’s most popular feature, which is serving as a community gathering space that doubles as the most visible venue to stage a protest.

I have witnessed first-hand all kinds of protests at the Market House: Black activists camped out in a post-Black Lives Matter protest; Muslim Americans protesting Trump’s Muslim travel ban; the Tea Party people, protesting President Obama and tax increases, but really Obama; people protesting on behalf of women’s rights during the Trump Administration; and so on. 

The building’s difficult history makes it all the more powerful as a backdrop in many of these protests, like recently when I saw Black women join hands and encircle the building as part of the photo shoot 100 Professional Black Women in Black. 

Take the win

What we’re doing now is calling a tie a win and moving on. 

Benavente, who made the motion to proceed, clarified with staff that the city had been working on a repurposed Market House proposal since 2021.

He sounded weary of delay. He didn’t sigh but he could’ve. 

“This is something we’ve been working on for a while,” he said. “I just want to make that clear to the public.” 

So noted. 

And now forward. 

Myron B. Pitts can be reached at mpitts@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3559.