Downtown advocate hopes to take OTC into the future

By Jon Show — Case Warnemunde paces in the half-light of a winter day around Old Town Public House, his now shuttered live-music bottle shop. It’s time to move out, after a months-long celebration that culminated in one final party a few nights earlier.

He’s on the phone making plans, which don’t immediately appear to include packing up the overturned chairs, boxes, and empty glasses strewn around a business that helped launch the cultural arts district that downtown Cornelius has become.

It’s what’s next — for him and the area of town that grew up with him. Now, at almost 40, he wants to help take it into the future.

After more than a decade of grassroots community building, Warnemunde is launching his vision for a downtown Cornelius marketing engine with the formal creation of Old Town Cornelius Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit designed to serve as the cultural and economic connector for the town’s emerging downtown district.

The Old Town Cornelius name isn’t new, but its origin isn’t widely known. It grew out of conversations more than a decade ago between Warnemunde and a group of artists and musicians who wanted a trendy name for the downtown area. Friends later designed the logo.

“We were originally going to call it DoCo, and we thought that was kind of clever,” Warnemunde said. “Then as we did a little more digging, we realized the old-timers in the community refer to this place as Old Town. And it stuck.”

While there’s no formal recognition of the OTC name in town circles, its brand has become synonymous with the downtown area, even appearing repeatedly in the proposed downtown master plan.

Origin story

For Warnemunde, launching the organization represents the culmination of efforts that began with open mic nights at Oak Street Mill more than 13 years ago.

“There wasn’t really anything going on here in the downtown area,” Warnemunde said. “We hosted this event every first and third Thursday, and we were bringing out so much talent.”

Those open mic nights attracted musicians who would later become mainstays of the local scene. The energy generated led to larger community gatherings, including art crawls and street festivals.

The word-of-mouth loop in the community proved powerful. As festivals and events grew, more businesses arrived. More significantly, Warnemunde began hearing directly from new residents who cited the emerging scene as a key factor in their decision to move to Cornelius.

“We got firsthand feedback that people were coming to this area specifically because of the culture, and we were at the forefront of that,” Warnemunde said. “More residents were coming here and telling us specifically that they moved to this area because of the scene that was being created.”

With the closing of OTPH, new developments on the way, and a new downtown master plan on the horizon, Warnemunde now wants to formalize and align the work of the town government, businesses, and residents under the Old Town Cornelius banner.

“We’re not this rogue, organic movement anymore,” he said. “We’re a nonprofit organization dedicated to arts, culture, and community development in downtown Cornelius.”

Providing structure

Old Town Cornelius Inc.’s framework outlines four operational pillars: Events & Activations, Creative Placemaking, the Old Town Business Collective, and Marketing & Storytelling.

The Business Collective addresses what Warnemunde identifies as a critical gap — not a competitor to a chamber of commerce, but something complementary and more hyper-focused.

“For a long time there’s been a need for something to connect the downtown businesses and provide a unified voice and strategy so we can increase foot traffic,” he said. His proposed initiatives include an OTC passport program and “Second Saturday” events.

Warnemunde emphasizes the organization’s authentic development as a differentiator from manufactured neighborhood brands, drawing parallels to Charlotte’s NoDa district, which evolved organically from artist communities.

The organization positions itself as “the implementation arm of many aspects of the master plan” for downtown Cornelius. “We are perfectly positioned to immediately implement those things that the community has decided that they want,” he said.

Funding strategies include a Founders Circle program, potential town grants, and private donations. The organization recently submitted an application to the town for a nonprofit grant and plans a presentation to the town board in early spring. Discussions also are underway regarding alignment with existing businesses.

Community builder

For Warnemunde, the formalization represents both professional evolution and personal commitment. A University of Cincinnati graduate who relocated to the area in 2009, he has spent his adult life building community in Cornelius, first through hospitality employment, then through OTPH, and increasingly through cultural programming.

The closing of OTPH allows Warnemunde to dedicate himself to full-time nonprofit work. After years of building intellectual property through trial and error, he is ready to organize the effort and secure the resources needed to sustain it.

“We’re professionals now,” Warnemunde said. “We understand what we’re doing to shift the entire economics of the area, how this impacts real estate value, businesses coming to the area. This is what people want.”

The mission statement reflects both the organization’s grassroots origins and its aspirations: fostering a vibrant and connected community by celebrating local culture, enhancing public spaces, supporting local artists and businesses, and preserving the town’s unique history and heritage.

The vision is equally ambitious: “A thriving, walkable downtown where creativity, culture, small business, and community pride intersect — making Old Town Cornelius a destination that feels like home to everyone.”

“I knew early on that there needed to be an organization that would connect all of these unique businesses, ideas, and the culture,” he said. “We have a lot of artists in our community, even though they’re kind of tucked away. You wouldn’t know all the pieces that are here.”

Old Town Cornelius Inc. aims to surface those hidden pieces and weave them into a cohesive identity that residents recognize and visitors discover — an authentic downtown experience forged through years of grassroots effort, now positioned for its next chapter of growth.

Just like Warnemunde.