(rshsdepot) Raleigh, NC

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From WRAL-TV.  Go to _http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2036890/_ 
(http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2036890/)  for  video.
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
 
Depot Derailed as Nightclubs Close
 
Posted: Nov. 13 12:36 p.m. 
Updated: Nov. 13 11:54  p.m. 
 
Raleigh — Three nightclubs in  the recently restored warehouse district west 
of downtown Raleigh closed without  warning last weekend, leaving dozens 
unemployed and the area's future in the  air. 
Trucks packed up equipment from The Hurricane, Blazin' Saddles, and Soho East 
 over the weekend. Half-empty beer bottles still sat on bars inside the clubs 
on  Tuesday, and unhooked cables hung from the walls where plasma televisions 
were  once located. 
"Our schedules were posted. Literally, it's like they just snuck out in the  
middle of the night and just left," former employee Lelia West said 
"It's just like we worked on a project together, and it's like it went away.  
We never did anything," former employee Carey Kidd said. 
The three West Davie Street clubs were part of The Raleigh Depot, owned by  
Rochester, N.Y., businessman Ronnie Davis. The project was part of an effort to 
 revitalize the warehouse district near the Amtrak rail station west of  
downtown. 
Six years ago, the North Carolina Railroad Co. spent more than $2 million to  
restore the 1912 Southern Railway freight depot. The building sat empty for  
several years before Davis leased the property last year and began outfitting 
it  for the three clubs. 
The Depot opened to great fanfare in August, with a block party to attract  
people downtown. But an incident involving country-rock singer Uncle Kracker  
drew even more attention to the area. 
The singer, whose real name is Matthew Shafer, was arrested at a Cary hotel  
after a woman accused him of groping her in a downtown Raleigh bar after he  
performed at The Depot block party. 
Shafer pleaded guilty in September to a misdemeanor assault charge and was  
sentenced to a year on probation. 
Unemployed workers said Tuesday the incident had very little to do with  
closures. 
As he walked though the abandoned clubs Tuesday, plumbing contractor Don  
Luther said a financial dispute between Davis, the NCRR and the project's  
general contractor led to the sudden closures. 
"We were supposed to be paid five days after the job was completed. That was  
our guarantee by the railroad," Luther said, noting he is still owed $49,000 
for  plumbing work he did in the clubs. 
"Everybody backed out of it," he said. "We've got a lien going right now on  
this building and the owners." 
NCRR officials issued a statement that said Davis "apparently has abandoned  
the business in Raleigh" but hasn't provided any notice of termination of the  
lease. 
"Contractors did work at the direction of (Davis') company. NCRR does not  
have a contract with general contractor or subcontractors," NCRR spokeswoman Kat 
 Christian said. "We're concerned they are not going to get paid and hope it 
will  be resolved fairly quickly." 
Ben Kuhn, an attorney for Davis, declined to comment on any financial  
dispute. He said Davis was sorry for leaving about 40 full- and part-time  workers 
without jobs and leaving subcontractors with unpaid bills. 
"It has been our intention to add to and continue Raleigh's development. We  
regret any hardship or impact immediate closure had on North Carolina Railroad 
 Co., subcontractors, employees, residents and patrons," Kuhn said. 
David Diaz, president and chief executive of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance,  
said he doesn't think The Depot's closing will adversely affect efforts to 
bring  more business to the warehouse district. 
"It appears to be an isolated incident," Diaz said. 
The NCRR hopes to find new tenants for the spaces formerly occupied by the  
clubs once the lease will Davis is resolved, Christian said. 
But new tenants won't open in time to help Mary Shelton, who recently booked  
an event at The Depot for December. 
"I was coming by to secure it, and there's nobody here," Shelton said. "(I  
was) shocked. The doors were locked, (and) the contractors let us in. They 
said,  'There's nothing here. There's nobody here. They've all packed up and  
gone.'" 
With the new downtown convention center and hotel scheduled to open in less  
than a year, leaders had high hopes on this area becoming a well-established  
nightlife destination. 
"Certainly a setback for the warehouse district and a little bit for downtown 
 Raleigh,” said Dennis Edwards, president and chief executive of the Greater  
Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Losing these three businesses is a  
loss, but hopefully we've got time to replace them.” 
“We have about 160 restaurants and clubs. So having two or three of them  
close down isn't that big of a deal overall,” Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker  said. 
Although employees weren't given any notice about the closures, Dave Jackson, 
 a bar manager at The Hurricane, said the moves didn't surprise him. 
"I think it was just a little too big for Raleigh at this point in time,"  
Jackson said. "Probably two years from now, it would have been a better  idea."




************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com

=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
To Unsubscribe: http://lists.railfan.net/rshsdepot-photo/unsub.html

------------------------------

End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1631
********************************

=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org