Downtown

Accessibility

Salisbury's downtown area is the pride of the community. During the visioning meetings held for this plan, citizens identified the downtown as the area most responsible for giving Salisbury its character as a community. Yet, the continued vitality of the downtown has not been without its challenges over the years. During the past few decades, the downtown area has survived the departure of many of its most significant office and retail anchors. It has endured the slip covering and uncovering of many of its most beautiful building facades. It has seen businesses come and go, succeed and fail. Yet, through it all, downtown Salisbury has demonstrated its economic resiliency.

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Parking

You’ll notice that Salisbury has several parking options to choose from: a few free 24-hour lots along the perimeter of downtown, a couple of lots where you can park free for two hours, and an abundance of free, two-hour on-street parking.

Checkout Downtown Salisbury's Parking Map

Downtown Patrol

The Downtown Patrol Officer works as a liaison officer between the downtown business owners and the Salisbury Police Department. It is the responsibility of the Downtown Patrol Officer to enforce laws and respond to calls for service. He also has the responsibility to work as a liaison between other City and County offices and the Police Department. Hours are dictated by the demand for service. They are usually daytime business hours but can be flexed to accommodate other activities such as a burglary assignment or a planned gathering.

The Downtown Patrol Officer is a community-oriented police officer at its best. It is imperative that he is known by name to the majority of the business owners and their employee’s. The downtown liaison officer must familiarize himself/herself with other issues such as our parking ordinances and local codes. For the most part, the Downtown Officer, patrols on a Segway. This mode of travel is most efficient and practical considering the high volume of traffic in the downtown area.

Visit Salisbury Police Dept.

Development

Future Growth and Development

Considering Salisbury's future growth and development, City Council adopted the Forward 2040 comprehensive plan.

Salisbury's downtown area has a specific section in the City's Forward 2040 plan, and many ordinances and codes are applicable.

Encouraging Business

There are several associations that encourage business, events and tourism in Salisbury's downtown.

Rowan Works

RowanWORKS is responsible for addressing the comprehensive economic development goals of Rowan County and its 10 municipalities. Since 2008, despite the recession, this organization has announced projects creating and retaining more than 3,000 jobs and investing $1.5 billion.

In addition to the active recruitment of new development, supporting and assisting existing businesses, and marketing our community regionally, RowanWORKS represents the county in various public policy matters, interfacing with regional, state, and federal leaders.

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Downtown Salisbury, Inc.

As a Main Street America™ Accredited program, Downtown Salisbury, Inc. is a recognized leading program among the national network of more than 1,200 neighborhoods and communities who share both a commitment to creating high-quality places and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development.

*All Main Street America™ Accredited programs meet a set of National Accreditation Standards of Performance as outlined by the National Main Street Center.

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Visitor's Bureau

The Salisbury-Rowan County Convention and Visitors Bureau (SRCCVB) is a 501(c)6, non-profit corporation created in 2013 by two local government units (The Rowan County Tourism Development Authority and the Salisbury Tourism Development Authority).

The primary mission of the SRCCVB is economic and community development through tourism, destination marketing and destination development. The focus of the SRCCVB is to promote the growth and development of the visitor industry throughout Rowan County.

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The Empire Hotel

RESTORATION PROJECT

The Hotel is located on a 1.39 acre site that includes a 60+ car parking lot in a vibrant downtown approximately one mile from the Interstate.

The upper floors of the hotel are vacant and undeveloped. The building has four wings coming off the rear, two of which contain old hotel rooms on the upper floors. The old hotel rooms are roughly 13’ x 15’. All rooms have windows and most pairs of rooms share a bath. The building is structurally stable and has some first floor tenants with the exception of the end section at 226-228 South Main.

The remainder of the building has a rubber roof and parapet caps that were installed around 11 years ago.

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