August 2, 2005
Next Exhibit to Focus on the History of Fayetteville Street
"The Changing Face of Fayetteville Street" will debut in November at the Raleigh City Museum

RALEIGH, N.C. (August 2, 2005) – The Raleigh City Museum will chronicle the evolution of Raleigh's Fayetteville Street in a new exhibit opening November 19, 2005. Entitled "The Changing Face of Fayetteville Street," the exhibit will present a broad overview of the history of Fayetteville Street - once Raleigh’s major commercial thoroughfare - and explore the important roles the road has played throughout Raleigh's timeline. The museum is also asking the public to lend artifacts and photographs of Fayetteville Street to assist with the exhibit’s installation.

Opening at a time when the street is undergoing a major renaissance project, the exhibit will incorporate historical photographs, interpretive text panels and loaned artifacts to present the story of the avenue once known as "North Carolina's Main Street." Aspects of the exhibit will include Fayetteville Street's emergence as the city's retail center, the heyday of Downtown Raleigh in the early 20th century, the street's retail decline with the advent of shopping centers, its conversion into a pedestrian mall in the 1970s, and the Fayetteville Street Renaissance Project going on today.

"Raleigh's Fayetteville Street has served so many roles for our citizens over the years," says Museum Curator Dusty Wescott. "We felt it was time to focus an exhibit on its history and development."

The museum urges individuals to assist the exhibit team by lending any Fayetteville Street artifacts or old photographs they may have. Donors need not give up these items permanently. The museum reproduces a negative and an image from an original photograph and then returns the photo to its owner. Artifacts are typically lent for the life of the exhibit only, and are then returned to the donor. The exhibit is scheduled to run for approximately 9 months in the museum’s A.E. Finley Foundation Gallery inside the Briggs Building at 220 Fayetteville Street Mall in downtown Raleigh. If you have photos or artifacts to share, please call Dusty Wescott at 832-3775 ext. 14.

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