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“This is truly a historic day and time for Fayetteville State
University,” said Chancellor Willis McLeod. “This will help
revitalize the
Murchison Road corridor and will be warmly welcomed by the 6,000 faculty, staff
and students. About 3O people attended a groundbreaking ceremony on the site, which is
on the west side of Murchison Road, across from FSU. Construction on the $3 million plaza was originally scheduled to begin
in June 2001. But delays with the former developer, University
Developers, forced Fayetteville State University to look for a new
developer. Ciccone Development, a Fayetteville-based company, was hired for project.
Developer Tony Ciccone said site plans should be finished within two
months and construction should begin within three months. “It’s a wonderful site, and the need and demand is here,” he said.
“It’s a good investment.”
Changes
predicted
The plaza is expected to include restaurants, clothing stores and other
tenants. Ciccone said the construction of Bronco Square will
change attitude about the Murchison Road community. “Merchants and developers have historically overlooked this area,” he
said. “But that will begin to change because they will realize
and see that it’s good business sense to be here.”
Bronco Square will be constructed in phases. The first phase will include
about 12,000 square feet of retail space and as many as 10 stores.
Additional phases will begin according to demand. The
4.4-acre site will be able to
accommodate as much as 35,000 square feet of retail space.
The idea for the shopping center started in 1998 when the university’s
School of Business and Economics developed a Murchison Road/College Heights Master Plan with a $50,000 grant from the city
of Fayetteville. The university also won a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development grant of $365,897 to help build the plaza. “This is something I have dreamed about for four years now,” McLeod
said. “This is truly exciting to me and I look forward to it
coming to full fruition.”
McLeod said a study conducted by the school showed that the Murchison
Road area is missing out on close to $50 million in spending.
“People have to get in their cars and drive across town for goods
and services,” McLeod said. “This shopping center will provide
much-needed services so
people won’t have to travel far for goods.”
Students like Idea
Tanieka Smith, a
senior at FSU, said the shopping center will be convenient for
students. “I think it would be great to just go across the street
to eat instead of drive across town,” she said. Tiletha Shinn, an
FSU senior, said Bronco Square should benefit it students who do not
have cars. “I wish
there had been something like that when I was a freshman,” she
said.
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