Fayetteville downtown boosters got a boost of their own Monday night with the announcement of an anonymous $100,000 donation to the historic Holliday-Dorsey-Fife House restoration.

"I cannot stress enough our gratitude," said Main Street director Sherri Anderson as she informed City Council of the donation during its business meeting.

The Holliday House is the centerpiece of efforts by the Main Street Committee and the Downtown Development Authority to revitalize the area around Fayetteville's Courthouse Square as a pedestrian-friendly enclave, bustling with community activity.

Main Street volunteers have worked with city staff to install street scape and encourage store fronts that reflect an early 1900s atmosphere, and in recent years the group's efforts have turned toward saving and restoring historic homes in the area.

City Council recently approved a bond issue to purchase the Holliday House, connected to relatives of famous gunslinger Doc Holliday, and restore it for use as a museum and activity center. Just off the square on Stonewall Avenue west, the home is perfectly positioned as part of a walking tour, officials say.

The donation announced Monday will be used to furnish the interior of the structure, said Anderson.

"Over the past year we've made tremendous strides toward realizing our vision for Main Street," said City Councilman Al Hovey-King, chairman of the Main Street Committee. "And this will go a long way toward making that a reality."

Bond funds dedicated to the project won't cover everything, he said. Private donations of money and professional services will be actively solicited, both for the Holliday House and the Hollingsworth House, another historic home the city has begun restoring.