‘Deserving’: Revitalized East Spencer on the horizon

EAST SPENCER, N.C. — People living in a Rowan County town said that high crime rates and a dismal quality of life have been the perception for years.

A revitalized East Spencer is on the horizon after 10 years of no new homes being built or sold inside the town limits.

Longtime East Spencer resident Reginald Weeks Sr. has admired his piece of the American dream.

“I been here about 50 years,” Weeks said.

Weeks said home is his pride and joy in the small town that’s located northeast of a larger city, Salisbury.

“I don’t have anyone on the side of me and it’s like privacy,” he told Channel 9.

He stayed in the historically Black town despite economic struggles that left it depressed in many ways.

“Things are really making improvements and it really goes into the hard work of the mayor and council,” Weeks said.

However, many say that home builders also deserve some recognition.

The builders are now helping to give East Spencer a new lease of life.

“It’s a community that is deserving of new homes,” said John Lambert, the chief operations officer for Prespro Homes and Neighborhoods. “It hadn’t had a home bought or sold when we got here in the last 10 years.”

He said the company took a chance on East Spencer about a year ago.

“People in so many ways tried to warn me to stay out of this area and Rowan County, in general,” Lambert said.

Nevertheless, Lambert encouraged his company to ignore the naysayers.

Lambert said that within the past year, “We have 20 (homes) in some stage of production and many are nearing completion like this one,” Lambert said. “These homes start in the low 200,000′s. Therefore, working-class folks, they can afford it and not have to pay rent.”

Lambert’s company is building new homes that come with standard upgrades.

“(It) comes with stainless steel appliances and polished black-granite countertops,” he said.

Lambert said his company is not interested in selling the homes to investment firms.

“We already have multiple homes under contract,” he explained. “We decided not to sell them to anyone but residents or people that are from this area.”

Officials said creating an image of a wealthy town hasn’t been associated with East Spencer.

“First thing, they would think is crime,” said East Spencer Mayor Barbara Mallett. “Then they would talk about disunity and that there was no unification in the (town) board.”

Mallet has been East Spencer’s mayor for 12 years. She said that changing perceptions took about eight years of hard work.

“We had to build from the ground up,” she said. “We had to change the mindset and then had to change the image of this town. Our infrastructure, our water and sewer, and our roads and making way for new homes by removing old and dilapidated properties.”

She said she is proud to say East Spencer seems to have turned a corner and people are noticing.

“Now, we have the lowest crime rate in the county. Once you start, everything starts to fall into place,” Mallett said.

It’s a full-circle moment Weeks is proud to say he witnessed.

“I found out that where there’s unity, there’s strength, and the more we work together and they are working together, the more the improvements are being made,” Weeks said.

Mallett said new, single-family homes aren’t the only part of East Spencer’s transformation. They are also getting bites for new commercial business. The town also just paid off a fire truck, for $350,000.

(Watch below: East Spencer residents dealing with inconsistencies at the local post office)

East Spencer residents dealing with inconsistencies at the local post office

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