H-S metro reporter Matthew Milliken explores the issue of Parkwood's fading shopping center in today's paper, a 45-year-old, outmoded and small (24,000 sq. ft.) strip mall that sits at the core of the South Durham subdivision that pioneered the idea of residential development near RTP.
As Milliken reports, residents feel the center has grown dilapidated under the tenancy of a church in recent years; the church couldn't raise the funds to buy the center outright, and the shopping plaza has been bought back out of foreclosure by its former owner (and one-time Durham mayor) Jim Hawkins.
Set to lose another tenant when the Parkwood branch of the Durham County Library relocates to the new South Regional Library near RTP in a couple of years, the site might just become a home for a new public-sector tenant: a much-promised South Durham rec center.
As we talked about here last month, the City allocated funds in this fiscal year for site acquisition and planning for the long-discussed South Durham gym and pool.
The Parkwood site is one of several sites under consideration, according to the H-S, along at least two other locations: the intersections of Kemp & Coley (a relatively undeveloped area of eastern Durham County) or Cash & Ellis (near the Bethesda community, and still close to core of the city.)
Parkwood's plus: exisiting utility, sewer and water connections, plus a parking lot already constructed, plus nearby Parkwood ball and swim facilities.
The latest schedule for the South Durham rec center calls for site selection next year and construction -- an un-funded priority at this time -- two years later.
I can't think of a better use of this space. It's located within walking or biking distance of 1000s of homes in a region of Durham that has access to few if any public recreation facilities. I hope they include an indoor pool in the plans.
Posted by: Tom | August 22, 2008 at 11:29 AM
I've been meaning to make this comment for some time now...I wish the newspaper (and BCR, HINT HINT :) would put in an address or at least cross streets to make Googling the location easier. I have NO clue where Parkwood is other than "South Durham". This would help those of us more visually inclined.
Posted by: Will | August 22, 2008 at 12:05 PM
Because using Google is too hard? Hint: try "Parkwood South Durham".
Posted by: KeepDurhamDifferent! | August 22, 2008 at 03:06 PM
@ David Rollins. Haha. After I posted that I knew I'd opened the door for a snarky comment. So I'll take it.
Posted by: Will | August 22, 2008 at 03:55 PM
@Will: I actually tried to build a Google Map to embed into the post on Friday morning but struggled to do so and ran out of time. I'll continue working on that for future posts.
Posted by: Bull City Rising | August 25, 2008 at 06:28 AM
If you all haven't seen the current state of the Parkwood Shopping Center, you should. Though the boarded-up Parkwood library window has finally been replaced, I'm told another has already been broken.
Even with the Parkwood library still present, there are currently problems with crime, drug-deals, and intimidating loiterers in the evenings.
Parkwood was once an award winning planned-neighborhood, and is still set up for easy walk/bike-ability to the elementary school, library, baseball field, pool and trails.
Many feel that right now the library and baseball field are the only things keeping that area respectable.
As noted, the library is soon to move to Alston Ave, a further drive for the Parkwood and South Durham residents who currently use it the most.
The future of this shopping center should be handled with the utmost care by city and county officials. This is the perfect place for a recreation center, for which Parkwood and South Durham residents must now drive ~10 miles (est. 23 minutes) to Campus Hills.
In the interest of fulfilling their pedestrian/bike-friendly and Greenhouse Gas promises, not to mention the need to minimize crime throughout Durham, the city and county should convert the Parkwood Shopping Center to a recreation center and help to revitalize this neighborhood.
Posted by: Melissa Rooney | August 29, 2008 at 03:16 PM
I think this is a great idea. It gives the residents in Southwest Durham to have other options other than driving 10 miles or more. I am for it!
Posted by: Tracie Greene | September 02, 2008 at 09:52 AM