Our mayor comes to more public Fuquay-Varina functions than anybody else in town and keeps a natural smile and handshake for his fellow citizens. A sure way to get your voice heard about Fuquay-Varina is to find him at a function and mention your observations and ideas. Every mayor knows some people disagree and some of those even have good ideas. The goal of this story is to help people who have not talked with him before, have an easier time introducing themselves.
It is hard to appreciate a town or a person, if you know nothing of their history…
When John and Patty Byrne came to Fuquay-Varina in 1973, the town was a different place. Back then, Mayor Byrne told me early in our interview, “Fuquay was a farming community, primarily tobacco farming. When the tobacco market opened in Fuquay-Varina, it was like the State Fair and the 4th of July all in one with farmers all around the area bringing tobacco to market…. It brought so much money and spending it made all the merchants and bankers happy. I’d never seen anywhere like it before.”
John Byrne played two important roles in Fuquay-Varina and began his story by crediting his parents. “My father was a mayor of Wake Forest,” not even mentioning his stint as a star Yankees pitcher, “and my mother served on the Wake County School Board in the ‘70s and early ‘80s.”
“My first career here was banking. I came to work at Fidelity Bank. Now, I am on the Board of Directors. I worked for them 25 years. I had to manage my assets and help my parents. That led to my retirement. The other career was public service.”
the 1970s, Fuquay-Varina’s population had peaked near 3,600 people, but by the decade’s end had declined by nearly 500 people. Almost a third of the storefronts in Fuquay and half of those in Varina were boarded up or just left empty. “When Patty and I came to town,” he recalls, “all the young people were leaving town for larger cities.”
As town historian Shirley Simmons describes in A History of Fuquay-Varina, in the late 1970s leaders of the black and white community worked together to create an employment survey that showed especially dire results for the black community. The town’s mayor, W. E. Medlin, visited personnel directors at local factories to encourage them to offer 24% of their jobs to blacks. By 1980, the tide had begun to turn, growing to over 4,500 people by 1990 and then to nearly 8,000 by the century’s end. Well-connected people can know 3,000 names. By 8,000 people, however, even Winston Churchill’s appointment books had fewer names.
How did your personal involvement and commitment to the town develop?
“I’ve personally known more than half the mayors of the town, because of where I worked. Fidelity Bank is one of the nicest organizations around. It’s how you treat people. It’s a hometown bank, started right here, 110 years old. We’re now in 50 towns in North Carolina and Virginia. It’s over $2 billion in assets…. Community banks deal with the individuals, help people. I learned so much through the bank. I thought it was unique that the bank and the town were incorporated at the same time, 1909.”
“As a young man, I went to town board meetings, even when I had no role there. We had controversies—the town hall was moved from where the museums are to Judd Parkway. It was built in the ‘80s. Moving it back downtown was one of my 10 goals, when I first ran for Mayor.”
“Invest in your understanding before you invest your money”
“I did a lot of study of Savannah…. We stayed in Savannah at the Mansion on Forsyth Park …. I have a book about Jim Williams.” He restored 50 homes in Savannah and was the subject of the book and movie, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. “I went to Main Street America programs. Besides Savannah, I spent time in Charleston, Wilmington, and Pinehurst thinking about Fuquay-Varina.” Savannah’s renowned Forsyth Park Fountain corroborates his next thought. “The key to preservation was the Fuquay Mineral Spring. The town owns it now.”
“What you own and use, you will care for”
“Early on when I purchased the historic Ben Wiley Hotel, which became apartments [near the Fuquay Mineral Spring], this was an undesirable part of town. A few years later, I bought the place where I live, [Fuquay Mineral Spring Inn and Garden], to bring tourists to downtown and visitors to the restaurants. It took two years to restore. I added 5½ bathrooms.” With the creation of the Fuquay Springs Historic District, it had become a more desirable place.
“Historic preservation is one of our hidden assets”
“In 2000, we were just starting to think about revitalizing Fuquay-Varina. I owned several buildings. It was about historic preservation and revitalizing downtown. The Board at that time was not interested in revitalization. Not only did the town hall move out of downtown, the town was moving out of downtown. Half of the stores were empty. Walmart had just opened. I ran on a revitalization plan. We took a walk from Academy Street to Mineral Spring Park. Many buildings were dilapidated and not cared for.”
“You can’t want something right now”
“You have to have long-term planning and be patient…” Interest in the revitalization of downtown spurred the formation of a revitalization committee. The center of town was still going downhill, when the group consulted the Main Street Program. Banker Byrne formulated a ten-point platform and ran for mayor. “Our goal was for people to come out and enjoy walking about downtown.”
John Byrne was first elected mayor in 2001. After 18 years in office, half the platform points are already accomplished or will be by year-end (with asterisks) and the other half are ongoing, but there is still work to do.
Move town hall back from Judd Parkway to
the center of town*
Complete Judd Parkway*
Modernize water and sewer facilities*
Invest in technology
Get transportation grants
Achieve a AAA bond rating*
Support the arts and build an arts center*
Arrange events that bring people to town
Use public and private funds to continue to
expand downtown
Improve the professionalism of town employees through education and training
“Both Ashworth’s helped us,” he recalls. They owned the men’s store as well as the gas station. “We attracted new businesses. One of the first was Stick Boys. This started to attract other new businesses, like Anna’s, the Mason Jar, and now Vicious Fishes…. We modeled what we did after Pinehurst – we got a federal grant and worked with the DOT to turn the downtown highway into a walkable, friendly place using benches, crosswalks, a park, special paving and underground lighting on sidewalks, and parking lots.” That project helped to fill the stores.
Over Mayor Byrne’s first decade, the town population doubled to 18,000 people. With this year’s census, we expect over 30,000. Today, Fuquay-Varina downtown is booming with a $5 million arts center and a sparkling new $4.5 million library, attractive shops, microbrewers, and a full-sized brewery in the Aviator. New upscale Spring Street condos (behind Ashworth’s) are selling well. A $6 million mixed-use complex is going up along Raleigh Street with apartments, offices and shops. The last closed store is giving way to a planned $30 million mixed-use complex. The $34 million wastewater treatment plant and a new $5 million public works building are open. The town recently received $21 million in road improvements and transportation grants. We now have wireless internet in all parks and Ting is expanding fiber services. Town employees who need information need only push a few keys to get it. All this was accomplished while Fuquay-Varina improved its financial status a decade ago to become and remain the smallest of the 17 municipalities in North Carolina with a AAA bond rating.
“Everything we do needs to have a couple of benefits”
“A mayor of another town told me the first thing you need to learn is what you can and can’t do…. As a little league player, I asked my father about our team that was in a slump. Why do the Yankees always win? Without hesitation he said, ‘We’re a team. We play as a team.’ That’s the most important thing in my career and leadership. It’s also about the people you hire…. In our town offices, we make sure to hire and educate good people. All the department heads have been through the North Carolina School of Public Administration in Chapel Hill.” He mentioned especially hiring Town Manager Adam Mitchell, featured in the story on “Preserving Our Town Character” in last winter’s issue of Suburban Living-Fuquay Varina.
“We needed something downtown that would benefit downtown merchants and make a difference in our community long-term. The Arts Center combined revitalization with the arts. We arrange concerts, celebrations, and special events like the Christmas tree lighting downtown, all of which sell meals and help downtown merchants. When people come for those events, they come back.”
Downtown feels safe today. “When the mayor lives downtown, it’s an example. If I believed, other people would too. Let me show you some of the people who have visited our Inn and enjoyed our town.” We looked at photographs of famous visitors, like author John Grisham, the world-renowned nature artists Robert Bateman and Terry Isaac, and Alex Reid, the mayor of Donegal, Ireland. “Lots of people come from Europe with children looking at UNC, Duke, NCSU and Campbell. The Inn is listed among the Small Elegant Hotels of the World.”
“I try to speak to everybody now, because everybody waved to me when I first came to town.”
“We were welcomed into the community so much,” Mayor Byrne recalled. “Everybody knew our names, because we were the only new ones in town…. Today, I truly feel honored to serve the community for 20 years. I take great pride in and responsibility for the job that the mayor does for all the citizens of Fuquay-Varina. I read books like Off the Beaten Path, Rembrandt in America, and Adventures with Old Houses. I recently gave a talk at Ballentine Elementary School, when they were named a Special Olympics National Banner Unified Champion School. The award is about special education—everybody in the school helping everybody. It’s one of only seven towns in North Carolina and 173 in the country.”
How could people in town become more involved?
“Everybody needs to do it in their own way. I encourage people to become active in the Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Program.” Before being mayor, he recalls, “I was active in my church, the Lions Club, and the Exchange Club. I don’t look at it as being political. It’s more like teamwork. Main Street will put you to work on Downtown Revitalization.” (See Fuquay-VarinaDowntown.com) “So will the Friends of the Arts with the performance programs and the Friends of the Museums with their historic structures downtown.”
“Join churches, civic groups, arts center, history museums, recreation,” Mayor Byrne urges. “If you have children, support their learning through involvement in theatre, dance, and sports. Become umpires or stage preps. On the leadership side, go back to civic clubs and become a leader so that people can see your skills. It’s easy to become a leader and you need to have some warmth to do it. You have to care. You want your community to know you care.”
Those who came to our Art Center’s Nutcracker Ballet saw John and Patty Byrne acting as the Mayor and wife in the ballet and afterwards shaking hands with every one of the 54 other cast members, from aged 5 to voting citizen. It’s easy to share your ideas with someone who cares.
