March 21--A neighborhood near Wallace Park is becoming a hub for the Port City's film industry.
In the past year, residents along Chestnut Street to Metts and Barnett avenues have welcomed film crews with "The Conjuring," "Safe Haven" and "Revolution" to the neighborhood.
Now, excitement is building about a staged blaze next week that will raze a couple of sets at the park for "Under the Dome," a drama that will premiere on CBS June 24.
Thirty-one-year-old Melanie Eberl's home is a few hundred feet from the site, but she isn't concerned about the planned pyrotechnics.
"I don't know what the neighborhood's draw is, but it could be the charm," she said on Wednesday. "There's the park and it's quiet. They've used a couple of homes in the area, but we don't really pay too much attention because we're used to it by now."
The Wallace Park sets -- which look like homes in the area, but are skeletal structures that are empty inside -- will be burned on March 27 and 28, according to Wilmington film permits. The city's fire and police departments will monitor the flames, the permit says.
So will others on Metts Avenue.
"Oh yes, we'll watch it when they burn it down," said Faye Dukes, 56. "We're amazed at it all. They've been all over the neighborhood. I've been watching 'Revolution,' but you would have never known they filmed here because they were so quiet."
To comply with the city's filming ordinance, film crews notified Dukes and other residents who live within a block radius of the park, but because of the burn, crews fanned out a bit farther than usual, said Wilmington's film liaison Tammy Skinner.
"On this one, we went several blocks out so that people are aware of the burning activity," she said.
Other "Dome" scenes will be staged at homes on Creecy Avenue and Chestnut Street.
Residents who have concerns about filming are asked to call the city.
The shoot is one of several in the region so far for the new CBS series, which began filming in February. So far, crews have filmed scenes in Southport, Burgaw and at Wilmington's EUE/Screen Gems Studios, among other local spots.
Based on Stephen King's best-selling 2009 novel, "Under the Dome" is set in Chester's Mill, Maine, a small town that is suddenly shut off from the world by a massive transparent dome. Surrounded by a large cast of characters, King's story centers on the people surviving inside trying to understand what's trapped them.
In the upcoming scene at Wallace Park, a blaze at Chester's Mill Police Chief Howard "Duke" Perkins' home spreads before it's extinguished by neighbors.
Photos posted on Twitter this week by cast member Natalie Martinez reveal that Perkins will be played by Jeff Fahey ("Lost," "Revolution").
Cast member Dean Norris also posted video footage on the social network from the show's set, including a taxidermy bovine that was sliced in half by the coming of the "dome." Norris, well known for his role on AMC's hit drama "Breaking Bad," will play one of "Dome's" central characters, James "Big Jim" Rennie.
Other cast members include Chad Vogel, Jolene Purdy, Nicholas Strong, Britt Robertson, Aisha Hinds, Alex Koch and Colin Ford.
Dukes isn't familiar with cast, but she has high hopes for the show.
"I'm proud of this town and all the filming," she said. "This may give the neighborhood a bit more of an upgrade and then we might have more people coming here interested in the neighborhood. It's good to see more action for good things than for bad things like crime."
Cassie Foss: 343-2365
On Twitter: @WilmOnFilm
Copyright 2013 - Star-News, Wilmington, N.C.
