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���0.i <br /> W <br /> 14, <br /> t TT �Ny} <br /> t 3rfK. <br /> -..• riS <br /> - lb <br /> IL few, <br /> I .r f <br /> FF <br /> irs <br /> _ } lt, <br /> r W f 4 <br /> l: Sq <br /> ' _ P <br /> I. <br /> a -_s• - - ..L ca 4 J u, ter <br /> i <br /> tTeLl <br /> , � , W. <br /> rr <br /> i <br /> w. <br /> ti � u <br /> ga 4 � <br /> ..v=•'t }' i'c, �- ti3'JVwp t.yz . Ra. .r'7y. 5 -f( rnu 3' ,z .k, r -' �s - <br /> Jew <br /> w,r} -wt-I. . � <br /> Iwwr <br /> IV 1w <br /> 1 It w <br /> _ �... '. _ may 4 . . �.-rc-�' - <br /> ?- MIt <br /> t- � Sax a <br /> 14 <br /> r ' ' '- 3Sr JgII <br /> � - Y- FV � <br /> , yf n p <br /> } S'r Faw <br /> "° t?i' 1.�=v n% Y r,.. tiWt - �3E ' �U•`� j . <br /> -r � :5i 774 '1:1VXMz2tt'4 'F1 r �f*It <br /> ,ij <br /> J. <br /> MA <br /> .i'M' a'�+.":✓,_4., ryr}�yP,�y;> W K . :Y'�C �.,. I-]i`i24'f P�. �1 ^.} - <br /> 'a1?a' '_�.. . aa�-W- 1 •»Y tea' 4,'esj - <br /> {_ s _ • - tT ii --:off. ``u.q `.` ' _ `. e. <br /> fKItN <br /> 14 It. <br /> C°� ' '+e `i ' T�v a • .'Fn" �+ �•£3 J1g., sit t 5 <br /> n. I� tr e� <br /> - 'F � T..� <br /> Y _ <br /> iSZ <br /> MMA <br /> COMMIT TO GROWTH AND IT WILL COME <br /> In 1996 , Selma resembled many small railroad towns around the state . Many of the buildings that <br /> went up along the main streets during its heyday as a passenger and freight junction sat vacant - <br /> victims of time and strip mall development. The sixty- and seventy-year- old structures , inany <br /> unused for anything other than storage for over two decades , were becoming eyesores and breed- <br /> ing places for crime. The Town could not afford the . expense of demolition and was losing money <br /> because it could not collect taxes for the services such as water and sewer, even though the infra- <br /> structure for these was already in place . People generally avoided the downtown area and new <br /> businesses were reluctant to move in next to vacant buildings . Even cosmetic improvements made <br /> by the Town were not enough to bring people back . The central business district wasn 't doing <br /> much business at all . <br /> A THEME TO BRING BUSINESSES AND CUSTOMEF `: , ;_) .,A , I . ,. CJ ' 'i I '•. <br /> Former Town Manager Bruce Radford and others came up with a relatively simple way to <br /> breathe life back into a historically significant downtown district by turning it into an antiques <br /> and crafts mecca. <br /> The Johnston County town is located next to the heavily-traveled Interstate 95 , and about 34 , O ( > O <br /> cars per day pass over Anderson Street. In a 1997 business plan entitled " Two Percent Can Make <br /> it Happen ," Radford and Ray Gibbs saw this , along with Selnia '.s proximity to the wealthier areas <br /> of Wake County, as a strong customer base for a specialized downtown market . The plan took <br /> Radford and Gibbs only about three hours to draft and the council approved it within sit weeks . <br />