Twenty years ago, Raleigh pulled the lid off Fayetteville Street’s coffin and hauled its long-dead sidewalks back into the sunlight, shaking off the failed experiment that turned the city’s storied Main Drag into a gloomy pedestrian mall, empty after sundown.
For its Saturday rebirth party, the city trotted out three Army helicopters, a brigade of Harley-Davidsons, an exotic hula hoop dancer and a dozen-odd jugglers and stilt-walkers to welcome its four-block heart back from 30 years of hibernation.
Mayor Charles Meeker rolled past a crowd of 20,000 people in a black classic Chevy, the first car to touch downtown asphalt in three decades.
“It’s a fabulous idea, and I think it’s about time,” said Diana Sarantos, drinking tea at The Mecca that day. “It’s nothing like going back to what it was and calling it a good idea.”
Lonely statues, more koi than people
It can’t be overstated: Ripping out Fayetteville Street’s pedestrian mall changed Raleigh overnight. The city offered a handful of downtown night spots in the days of no-cars downtown — none of them well-attended…