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John Malzone sits outside the Blue Moon Café in downtown Fayetteville’s historic district, seemingly oblivious to the wave after wave of fans walking past wearing Woodpeckers’ jerseys. He’s wrapped up
John Malzone sits outside the Blue Moon Café in downtown Fayetteville’s historic district, seemingly oblivious to the wave after wave of fans walking past wearing Woodpeckers’ jerseys. He’s wrapped up
Fort Liberty’s local impact extends beyond the paratroopers and planes overhead. In this Cumberland County city’s historic downtown, veterans are leading a rejuvenation.
John Malzone sits outside the Blue Moon Café in downtown Fayetteville’s historic district, seemingly oblivious to the wave after wave of fans walking past wearing Woodpeckers’ jerseys. He’s wrapped up in telling his story about how the downtown district has risen to become the bustling city center that it is today — a transformation that Malzone, a commercial real estate developer and entrepreneur, played a significant role in.
In earlier times — during and long after the Vietnam War — downtown Fayetteville became a rough-and-tumble playground for young soldiers, especially on payday weekends. Its reputation became so notorious that by the 1960s, the city had earned the dubious nickname “Fayettenam.”
Throughout downtown, patriotic touches salute Fort Liberty’s community. photograph by Alex Boerner
Today, stroll down Hay Street, the main corridor in the downtown historic district, and the first things that catch your eye are the flags that line the wide, tree-canopied sidewalks, where colorful umbrellas and wrought-iron fencing create a cozy atmosphere for people dining alfresco.
At the head of Hay Street, the U.S. Army Airborne & Special Operations Museum is the region’s largest tourist attraction and has drawn more than three million visitors from nearly every country since it opened on National Airborne Day in August 2000.
Tucked behind Hay Street, Segra Stadium is home to the Fayetteville Woodpeckers, a minor league Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros that has played at the stadium since April 2019. That same year, Ballpark Digest heralded Segra as “Ballpark of the Decade.” Last year, the stadium attracted 187,000 fans.
Near the other end of Hay Street, plans are advancing for a $145 million performing arts center called the Crown Event Center. Among the building’s proposed highlights are a 3,000-seat event hall and a rooftop terrace.
John Malzone came to Fayetteville in 1968 as a draftee. Once a veteran, Malzone stayed, taking a job at a clothing store. In the years since, he’s helped transform the vibrant downtown into what it is today. photograph by Alex Boerner
It’s doubtful any of this would have happened without the cooperation of Fayetteville’s leadership, the Army, and the soldiers and veterans who call Fayetteville home.
Malzone didn’t play a big role in attracting the baseball stadium, the military museum, or the performing arts center. What he did was help make downtown attractive enough that investors and Fayetteville residents could see the wisdom in putting money into it.
Like so many veterans of his era, Malzone arrived in Fayetteville in 1968 as a young draftee stationed at what was then called Fort Bragg. By then, the New Jersey native had married his sweetheart, Shirley, and had a child on the way. After a year-long stint driving a truck in Vietnam, he left the Army, went to the local unemployment office, and landed a job at The Action Shop, one of the Ed Fleishman and Brothers clothing stores.
Malzone, now 75, quickly rose up the ranks before leaving the store for numerous other jobs and eventually starting his own real estate business, specializing in the sale or management of downtown properties.
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Greg Hathaway, who looks his part as an artist, with long silver hair tied in a ponytail, arrived at Fort Bragg as yet another draftee in 1966 and has made Fayetteville home almost ever since.
At 77, he still paints and creates pottery, and his daughter, Kelly Hathaway, runs Greg’s Pottery while he putters away in a back room that’s cluttered with pottery wheels, memorabilia, and some of his creations. Hathaway says that dozens, maybe hundreds, of his paintings hang in businesses throughout Fayetteville.
Across the street, Army veterans Andre Thomas and Robert Savage apply Minwax stain to a bar in what had been The Cotton Exchange antique mall. Malzone sold the building to the men, who said they scraped and saved everything they could to make the deal work. Now, they are renovating and plan to create an event venue called The Warehouse.
Behind The Cotton Exchange building stands the Livery Cigar Emporium, the creation of Thomas and a partner, who rent the building from Malzone and celebrated the cigar emporium’s third anniversary this summer.
Army veterans Robert Savage (left) and Andre Thomas are investing in the future of Fayetteville. photograph by Alex Boerner
Fayetteville “is a great place for veterans to retire,” says Thomas, a Jamaica native with bulging biceps, a warm smile, and a keen business sense. “Most of us, I like to say, are ‘the quiet professionals.’”
Soldiers turned veterans turned entrepreneurs play a large part in downtown’s resurgence.
A group that supports veteran-owned businesses lists 71 enterprises on its website that are operated by former members of the military, but there are far more than that. Malzone estimates that 60 percent of the business owners in his old Fleishman’s Big Store building are veterans — or their spouses — who have become an integral part of downtown and its rise to success.
There was a time when, Malzone says, “everyone was advised, ‘Don’t go downtown.’ Now, when you have visitors from out of town, they love it.”
Last year, Fayetteville won the coveted All-America City Award for the fourth time — more than any other city in the state.
Where once was downtown decay now stands a vibrant and proud city, one that embraces its soldiers and veterans and its cultural diversity.
Ask any veteran why they chose to stay here, and they are likely to provide the same answers: They like having the camaraderie of other veterans with shared experiences, and they like the economic opportunities the city presents. But most of all, they’ll say, Fayetteville is home. — Greg Barnes
U.S. Army Airborne Division paratroopers can sometimes be seen drifting to earth at Fort Liberty as a caravan of C-17 Globemaster troop carriers rumbles overhead. photograph by Alex Boerner
On Base
Click here to read more about the history of Fort Liberty.
The U.S. Army Airborne & Special Operations Museum preserves and celebrates the base’s legacy. photograph by Alex Boerner
In Action & In Business
Click here to read about businesses and attractions that celebrate veterans in Fayetteville.
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