Heart-bombers show love for Cascade Saloon

The technical term is "heart-bombing." 

This morning four historical preservation advocates stapled hearts with messages of support for the Cascade Saloon, a historic building on Elm Street downtown Greensboro with an uncertain future.  

UNCG historic preservation graduate student Catherine French stapled a heart on the
Cascade Saloon building this morning. Karyn Reilly is visible in the background.

"It has such character," Karyn Reilly, one of the participants said. "We don't want to see it torn down."

Two of the heart-bombers, Catherine French and Robert Manzo, are historic preservation graduate students at UNCG. The four are a part of a young preservationist group called the Greenhorns, which advocates "sustainability, adaptability and usability of historic structures" and is calling on the Greensboro City Council to preserve, restore and make use of the building.  It has historic significance as a former black-owned cafe before it became the Cascade Saloon and was built in 1896, Reilly said. 

Council will vote on the building at its meeting tonight, with a more controversial vote on funding to restore the building expected later this summer. Council members discussed the building at their May 23 budget work session, with some members like Mayor Robbie Perkins strongly advocating for the city to preserve the building and others questioning the use of funds.

The preservationists said they were concerned if the building was torn down it wouldn't turn into anything beneficial to downtown, with the railroad claiming right-of-way because of tracks on either side of the building. The former Cascade Saloon sits at a bridge-point between two parts of Elm Street downtown, which many have said needs more work to draw people south "across the tracks."