Durham neighborhood swings for fences

DURHAM -- The Durham Bulls lost to the Indianapolis Indians Monday night at the historic Durham Athletic Park, but the once-declining neighborhood around the stadium still comes out a winner.

"It's becoming a real downtown again," said T.J. McDermott, owner of King's Sandwich Shop, a walk-up eatery just up the street from the DAP.

The sandwich shop, the stadium and a majority of the buildings on the surrounding blocks on the north end of downtown once looked like they were out of the game.

Retail shopping had mostly left downtown by the late 1980s, and the cigarette factories went quiet soon after. The Durham Bulls had moved up and out in 1994 - up to AAA in the minor league and out to a big new stadium.

But just as the Durham Bulls Athletic Park sparked renovation on the south end of downtown when it opened, the old park's restoration, completed in 2009, is credited with helping to bring its neighborhood back to life.

It didn't happen immediately, says George Davis Jr., owner of Stone Bros. & Byrd lawn and garden shop, just beyond the stadium's left field. The year the park's $5.5 million renovation was finished, replacing or upgrading nearly everything in the place, the economy bottomed out. Projects that had been planned for the larger area were put on hold.

Davis, who bought Stone Bros. & Byrd in 1976, is as patient as the farmers who were the backbone of his business for decades. He knew, if he waited, downtown would revive. It would be different from before, but it could be just as vibrant.

"We never lost hope," he said Monday. "We always thought that it could come back. And it has. Or it has started."

A frank assessment

McDermott shared that optimism when he bought the old Kings Sandwich Shop building on the corner of Foster and West Geer streets, within earshot of the stadium's new speaker system. The shop had been closed for years and the little block building was in rough shape.

"I had people telling me I was crazy," said McDermott, who grew up in a small town in Indiana and fell in love with Durham during serial visits to see family and friends. "They said it was going to take too much money. But I knew it would work. I totally saw this coming."

Other potential buyers looked at the tiny structure and envisioned legal offices or a jewelry studio. McDermott says he saw it and knew, "That's a hot dog stand."

He rehabilitated it last year, the way other people restore old boats or rebuild barns: with the help of his neighbors. A group of roofers from a few blocks in one direction helped him replace the rotten one he had. A contractor a couple of blocks the other way lent him machinery when he needed it. For his grand opening last fall, a member of the family that started the business called and gave McDermott the original chili recipe.

McDermott's neighbors include the Manbites Dog Theater, which opened in 1998, and more recent additions: Motorco, a live-music venue; Geer Street, a restaurant that opened this week; Fullsteam Brewery; a yoga studio; and a ceramics studio and shop.

There's a more casual vibe in the area around the old ballpark, compared to the new stadium and its bustling neighbor, the American Tobacco Complex. Restaurants near the old stadium lean more toward pine picnic table than white tablecloth, and patrons are more likely to wear jeans and T-shirts than business suits. Skateboarders, on their way to or from the new skateboard park at Durham's Central Park, also near the old stadium, occasionally rattle down the streets.

Back to the ball field

The old athletic park sets the mood. Made famous by the movie "Bull Durham," the stadium looks much as it did when it was built in the 1930s, with its crescent of bleachers that wrap around home plate, its flat shed roof and the low-rise, hardworking buildings that stand behind it.

Neill Currin grew up playing baseball in places like this, and going with his dad to see other teams play. He was there Monday night with his own son, 9-year-old Zack, for the one time this year the Bulls would play in the old park. Nostalgia isn't cheap. It cost $12 to come in and spread a blanket on the grass, the same as it costs for a regular seat in the big stadium.

But the emerald infield, where local college teams and others now play, gleamed as the players came onto the grass to limber up.

Currin likes the new stadium, but he loves the old one.

"You're not here to eat some gourmet something at the concession stand," Currin said. "It's a ball field. This is, 'Let's play ball.'"