2025 Award of Merit: Statesville

Holland Building

2025 Main Street Award: Design

Best Historic Rehabilitation Project

• Stamey Holland

• Statesville Historical Collection

• G.L. Wilson Building Company
  

Watch The Award Video

The Holland Building rehabilitation began with a simple need—a new home for the Statesville Historical Collection—and ended with the rediscovery of a powerful piece of our shared past.

In 2022, Jimmy Wilson of G.L. Wilson Building Company and Steve Hill, curator of the Historical Collection, came together to solve a problem. The collection needed a new space. Jimmy proposed a partnership with Stamey Holland, whose family-owned building which has stood downtown since 1919 and was only two blocks away from the current Statesville Historical Collection. What followed was more than a renovation; it was a revival.

Together, Wilson, Hill, and Holland reimagined the former Woolworth’s building, once home to a bustling dry goods store and later a mid-century retail icon. The renovation included a beautifully restored facade, a new elevator, updated restrooms, and display walls.

But during construction, something extraordinary happened. Behind a wall, workers uncovered the long-forgotten Woolworth lunch counter. It was here, just six weeks after the Greensboro sit-ins, that four brave student teachers staged a protest in 1960— an act of courage that led to their arrest and now, recognition. That counter is now a centerpiece of the collection, and in October of 2025, the building was officially designated a stop on the North Carolina Civil Rights Trail.

Since its reopening in January 2025, the Statesville Historical Collection has welcomed over 9,000 visitors from all 50 states and 21 countries. It’s become a vibrant cultural hub, hosting school tours, civic groups, and community events—all while preserving and sharing Statesville’s rich history.

Economically, the project has been just as impactful. The building’s taxable value has tripled, generating over $7,500 in annual tax revenue for the city. And with future plans to renovate the upper floors, the potential for continued growth is strong.

This project exemplifies the vision of downtown Statesville as a center of community life—where history, culture, and commerce intersect.