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Culture
Fleming House is a Beacon of Downtown Renovation
The Fleming House originally belonged to Sen. James Fleming, who signed legislation creating ECU.
The renaissance of Uptown Greenville has a new poster child. The recently renovated Fleming House‚ with its inviting light gray porch (sponsored by Manpower) and sun-dried tomato-colored cupola‚ is a perfect symbol of the rebirth of this historic district as well as a vital link to the city’s past.
In the early 1900s‚ state Sen. James Fleming sat at his desk and drafted legislation that would establish East Carolina University. It’s only right that today that same desk holds special prominence in the parlor of the Fleming House‚ where renovation was completed in time for the centennial celebration of ECU in March 2007.
The Fleming House‚ which was the senator’s home‚ is an important part of Greenville’s history.
“ECU is Greenville and Greenville is ECU‚” says Allen Smith‚ senior vice president for the Greenville–Pitt County Chamber of Commerce.
“That’s why the significance of the completion date is interesting. We wanted to celebrate the completion of the renovation on the birthday of ECU.”
The Victorian house was built in 1901 and remained in the Fleming family until the city took possession of it after it fell into disrepair. A grassroots effort saved the Fleming House from the bulldozer in the late 1970s‚ and in the early 1980s the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce moved in.
It was obvious that the house needed a true renovation‚ and thanks to the hard work of project co-chairs Anne Sneed and Phil Dixon‚ as well as scores of sponsors‚ almost $165‚000 has been raised privately to fund the work. Donations are still being accepted to meet the total cost of $300‚000.
Today‚ the Fleming House is available for conferences‚ business meetings‚ staff retreats‚ small wedding receptions and other events.
The conference room (University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina/Pitt County Memorial Hospital) has state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment‚ a mounted projector‚ a hidden motorized screen‚ Bose surround sound and wireless microphones‚” Smith says. “The kitchen (Physicians East) is set up for catering‚ adjacent to the conference room.”
A Victorian palette of colors graces the house‚ as do Victorian-style fixtures.
Other offices in the house were sponsored by DSM‚ First Citizens Bank‚ Loula White Winstead Lindanger‚ NACCO and Kay Whitehurst.
Many other contributions were made but the most notable were C.A. Lewis Construction‚ which provided construction at cost‚ and Nancy Bolen Design‚ which provided interior design at cost.
Story by Kimberly Daly
Photo by Michael W. Bunch
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