FAIRMONT — “It’s beautiful,” one bystander remarked.

“It’s lovely,” a woman exclaimed.

“It’s so pretty,” piped in another lady from the small gathering that stood on the side of the former Times-Messenger newspaper building off West Thompson Street.

“Fairmont,” reads the colorful mural placed on the outside wall of the building in the heart of the town. That’s directly across Main Street from the former BB&T Bank building.

The mural — a painting designed to symbolize a new Fairmont era — was officially presented to the public on Tuesday morning during a special ceremony.

Roughly 30 people came out on a hot, muggy first morning of August to attend the presentation. At times, the sound of cicadas chirping swelled loudly, providing a natural soundtrack to the proceedings that also were attended by a baby ensconced in a stroller and a couple of big dogs held in check on leashes.

During the brief on-site speeches, trucks and other vehicles rumbled by on N.C. 41 that snakes through downtown.

The mural was designed and painted on July 25 by a six-member team of instructor Krista Rachels’ art students at Fairmont High School. Painted on three-quarter-inch plywood, the wall mural was assembled and created with mural paint by ninth-through-12th-grade students, Rachels said.

It has the appearance of a vintage postcard, with each letter in the name “Fairmont” emboldened with such settings as a farm, a golf course, the nation’s flag, the beach and a cardinal — the state bird.

“A lot of (the students) are National Art Honor Society,” Rachels beamed from the parking lot.

Town leaders embrace the painting as “another positive addition for the ‘new downtown Fairmont.’ “

“This is the beginning of what Mr. Chestnut and I and other members and staff and town board believe is the beginning of the renewal and renaissance of downtown Fairmont. This is just the beginning,” Mayor Charles Kemp said, name-checking Town Manager Jerome Chestnut in the process.

“This is just the beginning,” he reiterated, “and what a beautiful beginning it is.”

Following the mayor’s words, Chestnut addressed the crowd. After his arrival in Fairmont from Chadbourn on Aug. 1, 2022, Kemp has credited much of the town’s revival to the work of his town manager.

“This is the result of a community partnership between the town of Fairmont, more specifically, the mayor, and Fairmont High School art teacher and their students,” said Chestnut. “This is what our kids need to see. Our kids need to see that there’s a future in art outside of the classroom.

“What they are learning in school can be applied outside of the classroom,” he continued. “I spoke specifically with the administration from Fairmont High School about the importance of art and kids being able to see the ways to use art in their future. This is something we worked on as part of downtown revitalization, a part of bringing people to downtown. We have to embrace this. We have to show the world, you know, what Fairmont has going on.”

The town received $3,000 in grant money from the Robeson County Arts Council for the project. Council President Brianna Goodwin said it had been an honor to work with Fairmont after realizing that this was “a beautiful opportunity to invest the money in our small towns.”

Another mural, Goodwin said, is coming up in Rowland, as well.

“Were it not for them and others,” Kemp said of the Arts Council, “this would not be on the wall today.”

Other speakers included Public Schools of Robeson County Superintendent Freddie Wiliamson, new Fairmont High School Principal Anthony Barton and Jimmy Broach, the president and CEO of Atlantic Building Components.

That company has a new truss plant in town.

Broach, the mayor said, has made a significant donation for another mural that is planned to be posted next to the existing town of Fairmont mural.

“Our business is doing great here,” Broach said. “We picked an unbelievable town to come and grow our business. It’s been a little bit over a year now, and it’s always our intention when we came here and what I liked a lot about here was the small-town feel.

Town leaders Kemp and Chestnut have both spoken in positive terms about the recent trend of new business growth inside the town limits.

For decades — from the 1930 on upward to the 1970s — Fairmont’s primary source of income was the golden leaf market. Following the decline of that once robust tobacco market, the town wilted.

The current town leadership has sunk renewed efforts into revitalization, looking to dramatically upgrade Fairmont’s economic development.

“As I come down this Main Street and see what was,” Broach said, “we all have to envision what can be.”