Salisbury says goodbye to 'Jack-of-all-trades' Thomson

Sarah Kellogg, President of Historic Salisbury Foundation board, talks with a teary-eyed Jack Thomson at his surprise going away party at the Salisbury Depot on Tuesday evening. Jack Thomson, the managing director for the Historic Salisbury Foundation recently resigned his post to become the new executive director for the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

Friends gathered at the Salisbury Depot on Tuesday evening for a surprise going away party for Jack Thompson. Thomson, the managing director for the Historic Salisbury Foundation recently resigned his post to become the new executive director for the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

Maria Thomson was part of the ruse to surprise her husband, Jack, with a going away party at the Salisbury Depot on Tuesday evening. Jack Thomson, the managing director for the Historic Salisbury Foundation recently resigned his post to become the new executive director for the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

Friends gathered at the Salisbury Depot on Tuesday evening for a surprise going away party for Jack Thompson. Thomson, the managing director for the Historic Salisbury Foundation recently resigned his post to become the new executive director for the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

By Emily Ford

eford@salisburypost.com

They pulled it off.

Hundreds of people in Salisbury kept a secret, and Jack Thomson, outgoing director for the Historic Salisbury Foundation, demonstrated true surprise at his farewell party Tuesday night.

Followed by true tears.

Thomson will become the new executive director for the Preservation Society of Asheville & Buncombe County.

Tuesday’s ruse began when friends lured him to Uncle Buck’s for a beer. As well-wishers gathered inside the Salisbury Depot, Maria Thomson placed a distress call to her husband, feigning a medical emergency.

“I was kind of afraid he wouldn’t come,” she joked.

Thomson did the right thing and rushed to the depot, where he appeared overwhelmed by the crowd.

As he wiped his eyes, Thomson was often speechless, resorting to waving his fist in mock anger and embracing guests with a bear hug.

He soon regained his voice and took the microphone, recalling several controversies that erupted shortly after he began directing Historic Salisbury six years ago.

Two weeks into his tenure, First United Methodist Church announced plans to demolish three downtown buildings in preparation for an expansion.

“And then Davis Cooke raised hell about painting the Hall House kitchen red,” Thomson said.

Thomson said he became close friends with Cooke, who lives near the Josephus Hall House owned by Historic Salisbury.

Cooke said he just wanted to see if the organization’s new leader had a backbone.

“I was testing his mettle,” Cooke said.

Thomson won that battle but lost the other.

While the Hall House kitchen remains a shade of red, the West Fisher Street buildings that he and others fought to save came tumbling down.

The demolition in June 2006 was a huge blow, but Thomson successfully lobbied the city of Salisbury for a new ordinance to delay the razing of historic properties for one year.

Work still continues on the church’s expansion, causing Thomson to tell the crowd, “Apparently the Methodists have proposed their own 365-day delay because they can’t get the damn thing finished.”

The wins, not the losses, were counted Tuesday, as guests listed Thomson’s accomplishments, including overseeing a dramatic home restoration that was the focus of an hour-long show on the History Channel, which Thomson co-hosted.

City Council’s recent surprise vote to support rehabilitation, rather than replacement, for controversial Shober Bridge made the list of victories, although the bridge’s future is still uncertain.

Thousands of people tour local historic homes each year during OctoberTour, and more than 100 properties have gone through Historic Salisbury’s revolving fund to be stabilized and re-sold with protective covenants for rehabilitation.

But most of all, people lauded Thomson’s character, not his projects.

“His energy, passion and dedication have been contagious,” said Jason Walser, director of the LandTrust for Central North Carolina, which sponsored the party with F&M Bank, Downtown Salisbury and Historic Salisbury.

Working across from Thomson, Walser said he’s watched him do everything from greet visiting dignitaries to pull chairs out of the basement.

Whether the air conditioning breaks down or George Clooney needs to scout a movie location, Thomson can respond handily, supporters said.

“He can go from a meeting in a suit to doing physical labor,” said Paul Fomberg, restoration specialist with the State Historic Preservation Office. “He’s a jack-of-all-trades.”

Thomson is credited with changing the image of Historic Salisbury from stodgy to youthful and politically active, reflected in the turnout Tuesday night. While many longtime preservations like Anne Lyles attended and expressed sadness over Thomson’s departure, the room was dominated by the under-50 crowd.

“He has had a wonderful influence over the younger population,” Lyles said.

The song “Hit the Road Jack” accompanied a slide show of Thomson mugging for the camera at various Salisbury events over the years.

Dr. Michael Bitzer, a Catawba College professor who lives near Shober Bridge, said Thomson “helped put Salisbury on the map in terms of historic preservation.”

Bitzer said Thomson’s work “has laid a very solid foundation for whoever follows. They are big shoes to fill.”

Downtown Salisbury Director Randy Hemann, who took Thomson to Uncle Buck’s along with Walser and city planner Joe Morris, said Thomson deserved the accolades.

While Thomson and the city “haven’t exactly always agreed on things,” he has been a “fabulous partner,” Morris said.

Thomson acknowledged that some people wanted more change than he could deliver in six years. But he promised he was leaving Historic Salisbury a stronger organization with new insight.

The group’s greatest weakness, he said, is a lack of diversity.

“We need to work much harder to engage people of color,” he said, to help save their important places.

Thomson and his wife restored a house at the corner of Monroe and Caldwell streets, the childhood home of Wiley Lash, Salisbury’s first black mayor.

Historic Salisbury has tapped a search committee to find Thomson’s replacement.

Contact Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.