Local News

Kinlaw’s files plans to rebuild after 2-year wait

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Tuesday, 11 August 2026

Written by Luis F. Fuentes, CityView Today

Nearly two years after a fire decimated Kinlaw’s Supermarket, the longtime Fayetteville staple has filed plans with the city to rebuild with a 7,500-square-foot building.
Founded by Tommy Kinlaw and his brother Bobby, the meat market has continuously operated in east Fayetteville since its opening in 1979. On October 19, 2024, fire caused by an electrical short destroyed the original market’s building. Much of the structure was reduced to rubble.
“We’ve got a total plan already in place,” Tommy Kinlaw told CityView after the fire.
Kinlaw’s reopened the market in a temporary building at the same site on December 20, 2024. It offers a smaller selection of goods than the original market.
Proposed Plans for Rebuilding Kinlaw’s
Plans from Fayetteville-based Crawford Design Company feature a 7,500-square-foot building—more than double the footprint of the existing temporary market, which sits at around 3,000 square feet. Kinlaw’s Welcome Grill, which is also on the site and was not damaged in the fire, is about 4,300 square feet.
The new building will be located on the concrete pad between the existing buildings of the restaurant and market. Plans call for 34 parking spaces for the market, along with 20 existing spaces for the restaurant. Landscaping plans include adding a dozen trees and 143 shrubs to the site.
Kinlaw has said he aimed to fully reopen the store by August 2025, but rebuilding efforts were slowed by insurance settlements after the fire. The site and landscape plans were most recently reviewed by the city’s Technical Review Committee in late June. The TRC includes city staff members and representatives from outside agencies, such as the Fayetteville Public Works Commission, and ensures that developments comply with city codes and ordinances. After the TRC’s final approval of plans, they are valid for two years.
No date has been publicly announced for the project’s groundbreaking.
Though business is open with limited access inside the temporary market for shoppers, orders are fulfilled online and sales continue at the physical storefront.
Kinlaw, the store, and Crawford Design have not responded to repeated requests for comment.

America 250 mural brings local history into public view

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Tuesday, 11 August 2026

Written by Jamie Bishop

A mural can do something a textbook cannot. It can meet people where they are.
On the side of Cumberland County’s Headquarters Library, Fayetteville’s America 250 mural turns local history into something residents can encounter on the way to work, during a walk downtown or before stepping inside the library. Artist Max Dowdle designed the piece to do more than commemorate a milestone. He wanted it to make people curious about the city they call home.
“I wanted viewers to see that America’s story is made up of many voices, struggles and acts of courage across generations,” Dowdle said.
The mural, located on the Ray Avenue side of the Headquarters Library, is part of Cumberland County’s celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary. It was supported through the America 250 North Carolina initiative and reflects the county’s broader effort to connect national history with Fayetteville’s own story.
Rather than center the piece on one person or one moment, Dowdle created a visual history that stretches across generations.
The Marquis de Lafayette represents Fayetteville’s connection to the Revolutionary era. But the mural also includes figures such as author Charles W. Chesnutt and Lewis Sheridan Leary, along with soldiers and activists whose lives reflect later chapters in the city’s history.
“My hope is that people leave recognizing that Fayetteville has been part of a larger American story that is still unfolding today,” Dowdle said.
For Dowdle, the project was personal as well as historical.
“I lived in Fayetteville when I was very young, so it’s always had a special place in my heart,” he said.
That connection deepened as he researched the city and its past. What stood out, Dowdle said, was how often Fayetteville found itself connected to larger moments in the American story.
“What stood out was Fayetteville’s deep connection to pivotal moments in American history and its role as a crossroads of different experiences and perspectives,” he said.
Lafayette remains one of the city’s most recognizable historical names, but Dowdle said he was equally interested in those who continued working toward the country’s ideals long after the Revolution. That decision gives the mural a broader purpose.
It does not present American history as something completed in 1776. Instead, it invites viewers to consider what came afterward: abolition, literature, military service, activism and the continuing struggle to define freedom and citizenship.
“Fayetteville’s history is rich, layered and uniquely suited to a mural that bridges past and present,” Dowdle said.
Public art is especially suited to that kind of storytelling.
Museums and historical collections preserve important records, but people usually have to make a decision to visit them. Murals work differently. They become part of the streetscape and place history directly in front of people who may not have been looking for it.
“Murals bring stories into everyday life,” Dowdle said. “People encounter them while going about their daily routines, often sparking curiosity about the histories and people depicted.”
That curiosity is part of what gives public art its value.
A child may notice a face and ask who it is. A longtime Fayetteville resident may recognize a name but learn a part of the story they never knew. A visitor may leave with a broader understanding of the city beyond its modern military identity.
“They serve as accessible entry points into local history, encouraging learning and conversation,” Dowdle said. “By placing history in public spaces, murals help keep those stories visible and relevant for future generations.”
The Headquarters Library is a fitting home for that mission.
The library, located at 300 Maiden Lane, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and has become one of the centers of Cumberland County’s America 250 programming. The library’s Local & State History Department has also worked to expand public understanding of the area’s Revolutionary-era history through programs and research projects tied to the Liberty Point Resolves.
Dowdle said the location made sense from the beginning.
“The library is a civic space dedicated to learning, discovery and public access to knowledge,” he said. “It welcomes people from all backgrounds, making it an ideal location for a project centered on history and community.”
In that way, the mural extends the library’s mission beyond its doors.
“The mural extends that mission beyond the building’s walls,” Dowdle said, “and invites visitors to engage with history before they even step inside.”
That may be what makes the project especially fitting for America’s 250th anniversary.
It does not ask Fayetteville simply to celebrate the past.
It asks people to look more closely at it.
And in a city whose history includes revolution, literature, military service, abolition and activism, the mural serves as a reminder that Fayetteville’s story has never belonged to one generation alone. It is still being written.
Visit the Cumberland County website for more information - https://www.cumberlandcountync.gov/departments/library-group/library/america-250-nc/america-250

(Photo: The finished America 250 mural on the side of the Headquarters Library at 300 Maiden Lane, celebrates Fayetteville's place in American history. Photo courtesy of Cumberland County Library)

ASOM renovations make familiar history new again

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Tuesday, 11 August 2026

Written by Tiffany Haywood

The Airborne & Special Operations Museum prepares to introduce new stories, artifacts and experiences while improving the exhibits Fayetteville has come to value.
“New and improved” is a phrase people place on products all the time, even though, at first, the words may seem to contradict each other. How can something be both new and improved?
It can when something familiar is brought into a new era with added features and thoughtful updates while keeping the parts people have come to value. That is exactly what the Airborne & Special Operations Museum is preparing to do.
The downtown Fayetteville museum opened in 2000 and has now spent 26 years preserving and presenting the history of the nation’s airborne and special operations forces. During that time, new stories have emerged, new artifacts have been acquired and the way museums connect visitors to history has continued to evolve.
The first phase of renovations will focus on the World War II gallery, which will be gutted and redesigned. James Bartlinski, director of the museum, said the updated space will include new audiovisual features, interactive experiences and additional stories that allow visitors to connect with the history in more personal ways.
New interactive elements are planned for the lobby, including an activity designed to help children understand how a parachute works. The redesigned spaces will also give the museum more opportunities to bring individual stories forward rather than relying only on broad descriptions of military units and missions.
Bartlinski shared the example of a former prisoner who escaped and was found by members of the 101st Airborne Division. The division informally took him in, and he later assisted as an interpreter. Stories like his give visitors an opportunity to connect with the people who lived the history, not only the units and operations connected to it.
The museum will also introduce newer acquisitions that strengthen the stories surrounding its collection.
One example is a restored tracked vehicle used by the First Special Service Force. Bartlinski said the museum plans to place it within a diorama connected to the unit’s service in Italy, allowing visitors to understand the artifact within a fuller historical setting.
“You’ll see a lot of the same artifacts,” Bartlinski said, “but we’ve also had new artifacts that have come in that can tell a story better.”
Bringing something new to the museum, however, does not mean removing everything visitors already recognize.
Some of the museum’s audiovisual equipment dates to the 1990s and no longer works.
“People go through and they see monitors with nothing on them,” Bartlinski said.
Other parts of the museum, including exhibit panels and uniforms, are beginning to show the effects of more than two decades of use. The renovations will update that technology, refresh existing displays and improve how familiar artifacts are presented.
For those who have visited before, one of the most familiar sights appears before the first gallery: the paratrooper suspended above the atrium.
He will remain in place.
The mannequin and uniform may be refreshed after more than two decades of exposure to light, but the iconic image welcoming visitors into the museum will not disappear.
“When they come in, it’s not the same,” Bartlinski said. “It’s going to be a brand-new museum inside.”
The renovations will be completed in phases, allowing museum leaders to focus on each area while limiting disruptions to daily operations. They intend to remain open as much as possible, although some atrium work may temporarily change how visitors enter or move through the building.
The project also raises an important question: Who pays to transform a federal museum when Army funding does not cover the complete cost?
The Airborne & Special Operations Museum is housed in a Fort Bragg building and operates as part of the U.S. Army museum system. Bartlinski and the museum staff work through the U.S. Army Center of Military History, overseeing the exhibits, protecting their historical accuracy and managing the day-to-day visitor experience.
The Army paid for the phase one design concept, but turning that design into a physical exhibit requires another part of the partnership.
The nonprofit ASOM Foundation raises the money needed to hire the fabrication and installation companies that will bring the design to life. It also serves as the museum’s marketing and outreach arm, hosting events, engaging the community and building support for the stories museum staff are responsible for telling.
Margaret Britten, the new executive director of the ASOM Foundation, said her predecessors raised nearly $8 million through state funding, corporate gifts, individual donations and major gifts.
Britten said the Foundation believes it has enough to support phase one unless costs or other circumstances change. Additional fundraising will be necessary for phases two and three as costs continue to rise.
Britten said the museum’s mission resonates with donors because nearly everyone in the Fort Bragg community knows someone connected to airborne or special operations service.
“They just want to support the airborne and special operations community and ensure those stories are going to be told forever,” she said.
Britten also wants residents to understand that supporting the museum does not require writing a large check.
“If everybody in this community gave $5, we could absolutely update phase two, maybe even phase three,” she said, illustrating how smaller gifts can collectively make a difference.
The Foundation offers several ways to contribute, including its friendship program and sponsorship opportunities.
Through its Field of Honor initiative, community members may purchase a $35 flag in honor of an active-duty service member, National Guard member, veteran or fallen service member. Proceeds support both the ASOM Foundation and the Cool Spring Downtown District. The flags are being sold through Aug. 15, and will go up for display on Sept. 11. The flags stay up until Veterans’ Day, Nov. 11. They can be purchased by visiting https://www.asomf.org/event/2026-field-of-honor/
Fundraising, however, is only one part of Britten’s vision. After joining the Foundation, she repeatedly heard that some residents had not visited the museum in years because little had changed.
“People were just not coming back in because there was nothing new to draw them back,” she said.
Britten plans to respond through events, stronger storytelling, community partnerships and new ways of sharing the museum’s collection, including stories connected to artifacts that are not currently on display.
“I think my number one priority is just trying to have our community engaged again in the museum,” she said.
One upcoming opportunity will be a free remembrance ceremony on Sept. 11 at 8:32 a.m., marking the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. The museum will also feature an exhibit recognizing the impact of the wars that followed on the airborne and special operations community.
The ceremony is one way the Foundation plans to bring the public back inside while the larger renovation takes shape.
ASOM is preparing to become new and improved.
The Airborne & Special Operations Museum is already familiar to Fayetteville residents and visitors from across the country, but the experience taking shape inside will be one they have not seen before.
The goal is not to erase the museum Fayetteville remembers. It is to make it worth discovering again.

(Photo: Exhibits at the Airborne & Special Operations Museum has thoughtfully arranged exhibits, honoring those who have served. Photo courtesy of Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation)

CFVH receives $1.6 million grant to support maternal, infant health

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Tuesday, 11 August 2026

Written by Staff Report

Cape Fear Valley Health has been awarded a $1.6 million grant from The Duke Endowment to participate in the Maternal Infant Health (MIH) Carolinas initiative, a multiyear effort focused on improving maternal and infant health outcomes across North Carolina and South Carolina, strengthening care coordination and advancing health equity.
The initiative supports Healing, Equity, Advocacy and Respect, 4 Mamas and Babies, a text- and phone-based screening and referral program developed by the Medical University of South Carolina. The program is designed to identify medical, behavioral health and social needs early in pregnancy and throughout the postpartum year.
The model proactively connects participants to timely and trusted services and has demonstrated significant improvements in the detection and treatment of maternal depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, chronic health conditions, intimate partner violence and unmet social determinants of health needs.
The Duke Endowment’s investment will support participating health systems in planning and implementing H4MAB. The initiative includes participation in a peer learning community and access to a comprehensive Technical Assistance and Training Center led by MUSC in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The center provides training, technology support, cross-site evaluation and data resources, along with ongoing technical assistance to strengthen implementation efforts. It will also collaborate with state agencies, Medicaid programs and private payers to explore long-term reimbursement pathways for program sustainability.
“We are thrilled to launch this initiative in partnership with MUSC, UNC-Chapel Hill and five health systems,” said Jay Kennedy, senior program officer with The Duke Endowment’s Health Care program area. “Our aim is to work together to replicate and scale this program in hopes of improving health outcomes for more women and infants across the Carolinas.”
CFVH is one of five health systems selected by The Duke Endowment to form a regional network focused on reducing risk factors associated with poor maternal and infant health outcomes while ensuring families across the Carolinas receive timely support and care.
As part of the initiative, CFVH will collaborate with local health care providers, public health agencies and community-based organizations to share information about H4MAB and connect families with medical, behavioral health, social support and peer support resources. The health system will also convene a community advisory board to provide feedback, identify resource gaps and help ensure implementation reflects local community needs and experiences.
“In Cumberland County, maternal health isn’t just a medical issue — it is a community crisis, with persistent racial disparities and preterm birth rates holding at a staggering 11.9%, the highest rate in the state,” said Kathya Gavazzi, corporate director of Women and Children’s Services at Cape Fear Valley Health. “This grant will allow us to move beyond the clinic walls and address root causes such as housing, nutrition and mental health, because every mother in our county deserves a safe pregnancy and a healthy start for her baby.”