BAILEY &mdash; Diana Viola McFadden, 72, died Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021. Arrangements are by Stevens Funeral Home, Wilson.&nbsp;

Diana Viola McFadden

SPRING HOPE &mdash; Town officials say they won&rsquo;t step between downtown property owners in their feud over a collapsed building.
&ldquo;However y&rsquo;all resolve it, amicably or not amicably, that&rsquo;s between y&rsquo;all,&rdquo; Town Attorney Mark Edwards told property owners John Clark and members of Faith Christian Ministries during the Spring Hope Board of Commissioners&rsquo; April 5 meeting. 
Officials said the town is happy to mediate, but ultimately it&rsquo;s up to the two parties to resolve their disagreement on how to move forward after Clark&rsquo;s building partially collapsed onto buildings the charity owns. 
Falling debris from the dilapidated warehouse&rsquo;s crumbling wall closed three downtown businesses in November.
Clark, owner of the Main Street warehouse, told town commissioners that while the collapse was unfortunate, he wanted to save the remainder of the building.
The collapse closed Bubbles &amp; Bows Pet Salon, Cherish&rsquo;D Crown Natural Hair Care and Faith Christian Ministries&rsquo; clothing resale store.
FCM President Joedell Richardson told commissioners April 5 that the charity needed to get back to helping the people of Spring Hope.
&ldquo;We cannot help them if we are closed,&rdquo; Richardson said.
For safety reasons, the businesses have been under a vacate order since the collapse. Town Manager Jae Kim said last week that occupant and visitor safety remain the town&rsquo;s top priorities. 
Richardson asked the town to remove the vacate order so Faith Christian Ministries can begin to repair its thrift store, which is a critical funding source for the organization.
FCM member Kay Mitchell provided a letter from Daniel Proctor, a professional engineer with the Nashville firm of Wild and Blue.
&ldquo;It is my professional opinion that your building located at 203 W. Main St. is structurally sound and is suited for restoration/renovation,&rdquo; Proctor wrote in his letter, which Mitchell read during the meeting. 
Town Attorney Mark Edwards read the second sentence of the same paragraph: &ldquo;However, construction activities should not be allowed in and/or around your building until the collapse has been removed.&rdquo;
Edwards said when Clark and Faith Christian Ministries remove the debris, Spring Hope will rescind the vacate order.
Mitchell said Clark was given two weeks to demolish the wall. It&rsquo;s been five months.
&ldquo;Y&rsquo;all need to work it out among yourselves,&rdquo; Edwards said. &ldquo;When the work is completed and the building is safe, you will be able to get back in the building,&rdquo; 
While the three businesses haven&rsquo;t been able to open, Clark has performed woodworking in his building with use of a generator. 
Bubbles &amp; Bows owner Betsy Strickland, who leased a building from Faith Christian Ministries, initially moved her business to her Franklin County homestead after the collapse. She asked to remain on the Downtown Development Board since she hoped to return to town at some point.
Strickland opened a salon on South Barnes Street in downtown Nashville on April 7.
In a social media statement, she said she was moving on from the nightmare the Spring Hope situation has become, but wanted to remain active with both the Downtown Development Board and the Spring Hope Chamber of Commerce.&nbsp;
RELATED COMMENTARY: <a href="https://restorationnewsmedia.com/enterprise/news/towns-neglect-keeps-shops-sidelined" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Town's neglect keeps shops sidelined&nbsp;</a>

Town won't intervene in collapsed building dispute 

ENT P1 LOC collapsed building dispute W 4-21-21.jpg

SPRING HOPE &mdash; Town commissioners have approved the sale of two downtown buildings, which would expand the town&rsquo;s tax base and possibly strengthen the local economy.
Spring Hope officials would like to see the buildings developed into retail shops, restaurants, cafes or businesses offering personal and professional services. The two buildings, at 119 and 121 S. Ash St., were donated to the town in 2010.
The total value of 119 S. Ash is listed at $19,910 and 121 S. Ash is listed at $18,960, according to Nash County tax records.
&ldquo;Although one of the buildings is in better condition than the other, both buildings would still need major costs invested into them to redevelop their uses,&rdquo; Town Manager Jae Kim wrote in an April 5 memo to commissioners. The town lists 119 S. Ash St. as being in fair condition and 121 S. Ash St. in poor condition.
The buildings have some mold and moisture problems, roof conditions, water-stained ceilings and significant water damage to the floors, according to a contractor&rsquo;s May 2019 assessment. 
The town is set to issue a request for proposals and will review redevelopment plans for one or both buildings. The the Downtown Development Board and town staff will evaluate prospective investors&rsquo; plans and make recommendations to the Spring Hope Board of Commissioners.
&ldquo;The town at its sole discretion is not obligated to accept any of the proposals for sale for either property. If all plans are unsatisfactory, another request for proposals may go out again at any point in the future,&rdquo; Kim said.
Interested parties will be allowed to tour the properties. The town has set a schedule for the process, which is subject to changes.
&bull; The request for proposals was due to be made available Thursday, April 15.
&bull; Site visits will be scheduled for April 29-30.
&bull; Questions regarding the request for proposals are due by May 14.
&bull; Responses from town staff will be provided by May 18.
&bull; The request for proposals will close June 25.
&bull; The town will select a developer Aug. 2.
&bull; An agreement will be finalized on or about Sept. 1.
More information about the town buildings is available at www.springhope.net/resources.

Spring Hope seeks developers for 2 downtown buildings

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SPRING HOPE &mdash; A still-unknown drowned man fished out of the Tar River four decades ago likely had a cocktail of whiskey or wine, fingernail polish remover and rubbing alcohol swirling around in his system.
On June 25, 1980, a fisherman found the drowned man&rsquo;s body in the water near Strickland&rsquo;s Bridge on Old Bailey Highway about 9 miles from downtown Spring Hope in rural Nash County.
The 50- to 70-year-old Black man died of drowning and his body could have floated downstream for several miles, according to an autopsy and death investigation conducted by Nash County Medical Examiner Robert E. Zipf Jr.
The Tar River starts in Person County and runs through Louisburg upstream from the location where the drowned man was discovered. 
Washed ashore, unearthed in shallow graves, stumbled upon in the woods, discovered in abandoned houses, killed on busy roads or located in rivers, ponds and along railroad tracks, more than 120 bodies remain unidentified in North Carolina. This is one of their stories.
Officials believe the drowned man had been dead for around three days prior to discovery. The remains weren&rsquo;t recognizable due to decomposition and putrefaction. 
The drowned man had a blood ethanol level above 80 milligrams per deciliter and traces of acetone and isopropanol in his system, according to his toxicology report. That level of ethanol exceeds North Carolina&rsquo;s legal limit for driving a motor vehicle. Levels that high are frequently associated with loss of manual dexterity and sedation, according to information from the Mayo Clinic Laboratories.
Acetone is a solvent found in fingernail polish remover. Isopropanol is a major component of rubbing alcohol. Both chemicals are deadly if consumed.
&ldquo;Odds are high that the individual won&rsquo;t only get drunk on this dangerously toxic beverage, they&rsquo;ll black out and possibly even die,&rdquo; according to information about rubbing alcohol provided by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.
Zipf, who retired in 2010, still lives in the area. He said last week that he didn&rsquo;t remember the case, as he examined hundreds of bodies a year.
&ldquo;If they were unidentified we took pictures, fingerprints and took X-rays,&rdquo; Zipf said. &ldquo;We examined their teeth and we would check with dentists for records. We would also look for tattoos and scars. Anything that would help identify the person. Law enforcement would also be looking. It was a two-prong approach.&rdquo;
The drowned man stood 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighed 190 pounds. He had short, curly, black hair with some graying, a beard and mustache. His eye color is unknown. 
He had a 4-centimeter long scar on his lower right abdomen and a healed wired fracture in the left side of his jaw. Zipf noted he believed the healed jaw injury likely meant the man had been in a serious vehicle wreck at some point, according to archived newspaper reports.
The drowned man had his appendix removed at some point. Dental records are available showing a left lower cuspid with a restoration. Partial fingerprints are available. 
A DNA profile isn&rsquo;t available because no samples were retained, according to information from the Doe Network, a volunteer-run international clearinghouse for unidentified and missing persons.
The drowned man&rsquo;s clothing included dark and light blue striped wool and cotton pants.
The victim&rsquo;s National Missing and Unidentified Persons System number is 2182. Anyone with information about the drowned man&rsquo;s identity is asked to call the N.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner at 919-733-7834 or Team Cold Case at 252-406-6736. A monetary reward is available.

Drowning victim remains unknown 

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