When the Don Gibson Theatre reopened in 2009 in uptown Shelby, NC, it didn’t take long for locals and visitors to start filling the newly renovated, 400 seat auditorium. Named after the hometown country music hero, Don Gibson, the fully updated theatre emphasizes the city’s deep musical heritage and … Read more

The historic theater on Main Street sat empty for thirty years. Once the central gathering place and crown jewel of Main Street, the property collected cobwebs as town leaders waited for a private developer to come along with a plan to bring the building back into productive use. Eventually, public … Read more

The Development Finance Initiative (DFI) at the School of Government partners with local governments in North Carolina to attract private investment for transformative projects by providing specialized finance and development expertise. The DFI team at the School of Government is developing a series … Read more

Fredrick Davis is a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning. He is currently working with North Carolina’s Northeast Commission in Edenton as part of the Carolina Economic Revitalization Corps program. Does preservation pay? What are the economic ben … Read more