Holly Springs NC Now

Holly Springs Website Nestled among Apex, Cary and Fuquay-Varina, all towns experiencing growth from the heavily populated Raleigh and RTP areas, Holly Springs is rapidly growing. The Town of less than 1,000 in 1990 grew to more than 9,000 in 2000. By 2006, the population was approximately 17,500. While the Town welcomes growth, leaders also are determined to control the quality and placement of new developments while preserving open space and creating public areas. One of the recent focuses has been on encouraging commercial development in downtown Holly Springs. “We’re looking at downtown as a center for development of places that will be destination points, places that will generate traffic to draw people here,” said Holly Springs Town Manager Carl Dean. “We want to make it a place where people want to come and shop.” Part of ensuring a successful downtown was building Town Hall in the heart of Holly Springs. On Main Street, Town Hall is a center of constant activity. Opened in 2003, the 35,000 square-foot, two-story brick building was designed in an architectural style reminiscent of the 19 th century when Holly Springs was founded. A cupola with a large clock that faces Main Street and an outdoor plaza with a fountain behind the building are just two of the building’s features. In the lobby, above a display case maintained by the Holly Springs Historical Preservation Society, hangs a historic oil painting of George Washington, dated to the 1700s. The painting hung in 1876 in Carpenter Hall in Philadelphia. “We could have set up a Town Hall campus outside of downtown, but that’s not the vision we had here,” Dean said. “In order to make a viable downtown, you have to have something to draw people in. Town Hall is a destination point; it centralizes how residents get services and continuously draws people to downtown Holly Springs.” Whether it is the Town’s balance of commercial and residential development, its reasonable land prices coupled with its proximity to urban centers, or its small-town charm, new residents and businesses continue to be attracted to Holly Springs. Hardly a weekend passes without a Town-sponsored family activity in a local park or downtown, whether it’s a free movie or concert during the warmer months or a seasonal event such as the annual Easter Egg Hunt or the Happy Holly Days Parade