Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The City of Albemarle received an Award of Merit from the NC Main Street Awards in the category of Best Public-Private Partnership in Downtown. The award recognizes the city’s work to bring a satellite campus of Pfeiffer University to Albemarle’s downtown.

The resulting Pfeiffer University Center for Health Sciences, located in Albemarle’s historic Five Points area, has brought more than 200 graduate students to downtown Albemarle since 2020, according to an awards announcement.

“We’re honored to be recognized for the role our city played in the success of the downtown Pfeiffer University Center for Health Sciences project,” Mayor Ronnie Michael said. “It took careful planning and strong teamwork to make that opportunity become a reality. I’m truly grateful for the incredible work of everyone who was involved.”

City leaders recognized early on how the Pfeiffer project fit into a strategic plan of continued downtown development. The city supported the project by working out a land swap deal with Stanly County, agreeing to house the Stanly County History Center in the city’s former City Hall Annex. This freed up the property for Pfeiffer to build in downtown Albemarle. City leaders envisioned a project that would bring jobs, investment and a new age demographic to the downtown. That vision has become a reality with new restaurants, entertainment, retail business and housing all being developed in Albemarle’s downtown area.

The NC Department of Commerce and The NC Main Street & Rural Planning Center present the NC Main Street Annual Awards each year. These awards recognize the work, dedication and success of NC Main Street communities and their achievements in the four points of the Main Street approach to downtown revitalization: Economic Vitality, Design, Promotion and Organization.