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CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE CLOSURE: UPDATES, RESOURCES, AND CONTEXT

StarNews' John Staton on the Latimer House, the writers' strike, and our favorite basement pool hall

John Staton, who reports on cultural issues for the StarNews, dropped by the station to talk about the Latimer House's comeback from some serious staffing issues, the impact of the writers' strike on Wilmington film and TV production, and the future of Orton's — the historic basement pool hall and music venue that's been shuttered since the onset of the pandemic.

Ben Schachtman: John, well, thank you so much for being here.

John Staton: Yeah, man. Thanks for having me.

BS: So one of the first stories I want to ask you about is what's going on at the Latimer House.

JS: All right, well, so the Latimer House is owned and kind of operated by the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society, which was one of the first local groups to kind of really push historic preservation. And they bought the house in the early 60s, and they kind of became a tourist attraction. They do daily tours, they've got a wonderful archive of the library up there. And then the kind of employee turnover started kind of right before the pandemic, and then the pandemic kind of really exacerbated it. And they've gone they went through four or five managers in a short period of time, but now they've hired someone new. Her name is Ginger Davis, and she's got a Ph.D. in history. And she's got some good ideas to kind of bring them back to, you know, their former status because they went down to , one day a week on Saturday.

BS: Some people better know, the Bellamy Mansion or the Burgwin-Wright House, but the Latimer House has a treasure trove of history there — and it is up and running again?

JS: It is, I think, as of June 1, they are starting daily tours again. And it is really I mean, the house is immaculate from the outside. It looks beautiful. I mean, it's well kept up. Their board president Tom Crittenden, who's been the head of the board for many years, tells me it's not a money issue. It's just a getting the right person issue...so there's also historic slave quarters, next to it. Now, the Bellamy Mansion that you mentioned, they have one that's fully restored now, the Latimer House is rented out as an apartment and past managers have talked about, you know, restoring it and making it kind of more of like an interpretive exhibit, you know, for visitors. But that hasn't happened yet.

BS: Another issue, we are entering month two of the writers' strike now, and I know you've been following this. It's been kind of quiet. But what is going on with the film strike here in Wilmington?

JS: Well, there's nothing filming right now. I mean, there was after the strike. There is a production called the Untitled J&L project, which is a Joshua Jackson, former Dawson's Creek actor and Ava DuVernay is the writer, producer of that — that kept filming for a little while, and then they shut down production. There's a situation where if you have finished scripts, it was okay to keep filming it. But this is like a long series. And a lot of times they don't have, you know, the finished scripts for the whole thing ... So for whatever reason, that they're not saying, they shut down. So there's nothing filming here right now. And that comes on the heels of two really strong years, I think one record year in 2021. And then 2022 was pretty close to another record.

BS: And you were telling me off mics that, you know, part of the issue here isn't just the greenlit projects that were up and running, but maybe what might have been?

JS: Well, right, exactly, you know, so there was the one that shut down, but then there are multiple productions that were thinking about coming here that maybe will never come here now. You know, and even if tomorrow the strike ends, that doesn't mean they can just start filming. Maybe some of these people have taken other jobs. It's the whole — you can't just restart the train, you know, back up to full speed. It takes a while. So I mean, even if they solved the strike tomorrow, we're probably looking at fall before anything really starts filming here hot and heavy again.

BS: And in the last minute we've got here, you had an article this week about Orton's, the historic pool hall and music venue on Front Street. For longtime Wilmingtonians, this is good news, maybe?

JS: Well, hopefully, they're down there working, you know, it's been boarded up. I mean, people were kind of alarmed. Because, you know, they sent out a note in 2020 of March when everything shut down, you know, we'll get back open when we can. That hasn't happen. You know, there's no front door anymore. It's just a big board that's been nailed up. But I've talked to the guys that run that place. They said they're down there working — and there's a lot of work that needs to be done, even pre-pandemic, there were some issues they were trying to fix. And I think the pandemic really exacerbated that. The historic space, you know, is the only remaining portion of the old Orton Hotel which was built in the 1880s and burned in the 40s. It became a series of pool halls. I mean, the pool hall was always always there. Willie Mosconi set a record there, which he later broke, but sank like a ridiculous number of balls in a row, like 300 and some. And then it became really a haven for hardcore bands in the 80s in the 90s. Then there was theater and music and comedy — but it's always been a pool hall. And I think the original quote-unquote "Mosconi table" is still down there and that also needs work as well from what I'm told, but hopefully, they can get going — you know, it's just a wonderful Wilmington space that I hope they can get back going soon.

BS: For sure. A lot of history there.

JS: A lot.

BS: Well, John, thank you so much for coming by.

JS: Yeah, man. Thanks for having me.

Ben Schachtman is a journalist and editor with a focus on local government accountability. He began reporting for Port City Daily in the Wilmington area in 2016 and took over as managing editor there in 2018. He’s a graduate of Rutgers College and later received his MA from NYU and his PhD from SUNY-Stony Brook, both in English Literature. He loves spending time with his wife and playing rock'n'roll very loudly. You can reach him at BSchachtman@whqr.org and find him on Twitter @Ben_Schachtman.