By Hanno Kirk
This is the last installment on the Rebirth of Lewisburg after the drastic decline following the closure of the Greenbrier Military Academy, the associated military summer camp Shaw-Mi-Del-Ica, and the Women’s College in 1972. In previous articles we had learned about the critical role of the Lewisburg Foundation to revitalize the downtown business area and turn it into an attractive tourist friendly historic district. After the civic leaders had endorsed the ambitious architectural plans of the Brown architectural firm in 1978, the next step was to find the funds for implementing them.
As newly elected mayor, Phil Gainer became a key figure in supporting this effort. He wrote many letters to funding sources ranging from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the WV Department of Culture and History, the Governor’s Office of Economic and Community Development, as well as many foundations. Members of the Lewisburg Foundation used their local contacts to solicit donations from local sources, like the Greenbrier Valley Bank (now City National), various civic organizations, from their own members, and other wealthy Lewisburg citizens.
It took some years of hard work and money to implement the recommendations of the 1978 master plan. The major projects that took time were the creation of the micro sidewalk parks and the removal of the tangle of electric poles and wires along Washington Street, as well as the restoration of several historic buildings downtown. The sidewalk parks, each with a shade tree, were financed from generous donations from private sources. Key among these were a generous memorial gift from the Joel Ellis family, the Lewisburg Rotary Club, the Bicentennial Ball Committee, the Daywood Foundation, and the Savannah Garden Club. The push was to get the projects finished in time for the celebration of the Lewisburg Bicentennial in 1982.
The removal of the electrical wires from Washington Street required delicate negotiations not only with the electric utility company VEPCO, but also with owners of the businesses. The initial preference to have electrical wires buried beneath the street was prohibitively expensive and would have uprooted the street and sidewalks for months on end. Instead, VEPCO agreed to reroute the cables behind the buildings on Washington Street and create new electrical connections boxes in the rear of each business. The total cost of this project was $41,000 and took almost a year to complete.
Again the Lewisburg Foundation handled the donations and worked closely with City Hall to leverage money from foundations, as well as grants from West Virginia to augment the generous and private donations. It also served as a payer for all the invoices submitted by contractors working on the various projects. By the end of 1982, the goal of creating our attractive downtown historic district had largely been realized. The Lewisburg Foundation saw its role now of continuing support for the beautification of Lewisburg and advertising the town as an attractive tourist destination.
Visible transformation of downtown Lewisburg had ignited civic pride in our community. Enthusiastic volunteers from the Savannah Garden Club, under the direction of Jackie Bennett (formerly Dotson), placed flower pots on the sidewalk in front of businesses. Hal Walls organized a reenactment of the Battle of Lewisburg. A Conestoga Wagon was acquired and placed in an authentically constructed display building next to the Historical Society Museum in Academic Park.
In the 1980s and the 90s the Foundation took supportive backseat role to several other major capital projects in the community led by prominent wealthy local philanthropists. Lawson Hamilton and Jeannie Hamilton, as well as Thomas Zimmerman, became major donors for the restoration of Carnegie Hall. Vivian Conley, Donna Stoner, TAG Galyean, and Tim Holbrook did the work of organizing, fundraising, designing and building the Carnegie project.
Ann and Kyle Fort became the driving force behind the effort to turn the former Women’s College into a community college. Another major project was turning the old Leggett store building into a state of the art repertory theater. Ann and Cleve Benedict brought their passion for the theater to the task of moving the Greenbrier Valley Theater from the old barn at the airport into the heart of downtown. Led by Brandon Johnson, a long time Lewisburg Foundation Director, the Foundation in collaboration with the City received and spent funds to build and maintain the pickleball courts in Hollowell Park.
Other transformations came in the form of turning downtown Lewisburg from a restaurant desert into a town rich in the number and variety of eating places ranging from sandwich shops to gourmet eating establishments. An interesting phenomenon was noted in business ownership in downtown Lewisburg. Over half of them are now owned and operated by women.
Since 1997 the Lewisburg Foundation has been under the leadership of TAG and Annabelle Galyean, who have donated architectural expertise and daily management to these projects. This work included design and construction, in collaboration with the City, of the Splash Pad fountain and the Center Green Space which became possible after the significant fire on that important corner, and the rebuilding of street side parklets to accommodate smaller trees and welcoming benches.
After the completion of many capital projects, initiated and overseen by the Lewisburg Foundation, the emphasis now is providing financial support and manpower for the maintenance of the gardens and horticultural environments it has created in downtown Lewisburg and the four Route 60 and 219 gateways to the city. These environments need to be watered seasonally, which is done nightly between the hours midnight to 5 a.m.
The Foundation also initiated and served as the recipient of funds for the Greenbrier Aquatic Center. An interesting side note is that TAG engaged a group of Greenbrier East Engineering students to help in developing the plans for this magnificent indoor-outdoor recreational competitive pool facility.
Lewisburg has an aging tree canopy and currently the Foundation is sponsoring a tree replacement program. The program is committed to plant 20 significant trees per year for 10 years. So far this program has completed three years with 60 trees on both public and private land. Each tree and its installation is free to the landowner,
All in all, Lewisburg has undergone a Cinderella-like transformation since the gloomy days of the early 1970s when it looked like the heart of the city was falling into ruin. Twelve citizens refused to let that happen. They initiated and implemented their vision described in previous installments to create an attractive and thriving downtown historic district that has drawn thousands of visitors every year to the Coolest Small Town in America.
