He has collaborated with the Ackland Art Museum. He's lobbied for affordable artists' lofts and outdoor spaces where he can display sculpture.

So why last month as Town Manager Roger Stancil was telling the Friends of Downtown that Chapel Hill hadn't lost its mojo, was Hester packing up his gallery, Bill Hester Fine Art?

"My business plan was based on the possibility of creating an arts and cultural complex downtown," said Hester. "I no longer think that's possible."

"My collectors don't come to downtown Chapel Hill any more."

A lanky man with white hair and a passion for Neruda, Hester was optimistic when he opened a small gallery in the front of University Square in 2005.

The next year he moved to a larger space in the back of the shopping center, facing Granville Towers.

He didn't think it would be permanent, and even until closing says he would have stayed on with a month to month lease until he could move back to the Franklin Street side. He says management said no.

After three years of working seven days a week -- "on the chance that someone would walk in" -- he called it quits.

The vision thing

Hester says the town lacks the vision to make the arts part of a vibrant downtown.

But his departure comes just a few months after the town hired a public arts administrator and unveiled the design for Chapel Hill's most ambitious public art project: a stainless steel arc spouting a fine mist planned for the 140 West Franklin (Lot 5) condominium project across from University Square.

"Categorically, no," says Jeffrey York, the new arts administrator. "The town doesn't lack vision."

York, who started in June, is the former director of public art and community design for the N.C. Arts Council, where he says projects could take five years or more.

"I wish things moved more quickly, but they don't," he said. "We've got lots of projects in the pike."

The town displays sculptures around Chapel Hill. Its public art ordinance dedicates one percent of construction budgets to art (the Lot 5 art will come out of the developer's pocket, not the town's). A new streetscape plan will include art.

"Do we have that big iconic piece that's a draw for downtown? Not yet," York said. "Do we have artists working downtown? Not yet. But the idea that the arts are important to downtown Chapel Hill is very much alive."

Dwight Bassett, the town's economic development director, agrees.

He's currently recruiting a nationally known, "incredibly unique" artist to locate in Chapel Hill. He also tried, unsuccessfully, to find studio space for a three-artist collective. He says he was negotiating on the old Chrysler building on West Franklin Street owned by Joe Riddle, but "Joe was unwilling to make the commitment."

Hester is passionate, and his closing is a loss, Bassett said.

"He is the type of business we want to encourage downtown," he said. "The difficult part was Bill's particular location. Being on the back end was not prime real estate."

No walk-in traffic

Hester didn't sell prints or frames -- side businesses galleries use to boost revenue. His pieces sold for up to tens of thousands of dollars, and he featured artists such as painter Arlene LaDell Hayes and metal artist Walter Horak otherwise found in art destinations like Santa Fe, Newport and Miami.

But Hester didn't need a lot of sales to make his one-man operation work. He sold to a steady base of 120 to 150 collectors across the Triangle.

Still, galleries need walk-in traffic, he said. And Bill Hester Fine Art wasn't getting it.

A gallery can do two-thirds of its business on the weekend. On a football Saturday downtown, Hester could spend all day without anyone walking through the door.

He connects thumb and finger in a circle: zero.

And why would they, he says, when he had to explain where the back side of University Square was and his view looked out on Dumpsters and asphalt.

"I don't want you to have to stumble through cigarette butts and puke from Saturday night's football game," he said. "I knew the back was not where I wanted to be, but that was all that was there."

He figures he's got six to nine months before he needs to reopen.

He wants to stay in Chapel Hill, but says a good gallery can open anywhere and collectors will follow.

Well, almost anywhere.

"Someone asked me what is the problem with downtown Chapel Hill when it comes to the arts,' he said.

"I said ... denial."