Bull City Rising

Tonight's hot ticket: Hillside-Southern at Durham County Stadium

We're not big football fans here at BCR, but it's tough not to recognize that the hot ticket for a cold evening tonight is likely to be the Hillside High - Southern High football game.

Any contest between the two arch-rivals is a big event, but tonight's contest has the extra attraction of being a second round contest in the state 4-A football championship. Meaning one team survives to play next week's Southeast Raleigh-Middle Creek winner, and the other team goes home.

Given the size of the crowd expected for this evening's game, the contest has been moved to the Durham County Stadium on North Duke Street. Expect big crowds and a lot of fun as the two teams square off at 7:30pm.

N&O: Fayetteville gets $270m loop, bypassing Durham and other cities

More on the roads front: the N&O reports that outgoing NCDOT secretary Lyndo Tippett's hometown of Fayetteville just got $270 million in funding for their loop highway, even as larger cities in the Triangle and elsewhere sit on the sidelines:

[Raleigh Mayor Charles] Meeker, also a Democrat, said highway money has flowed to Fayetteville in recent years as most large cities in the state have received little....

Last year, Charlotte's unfinished I-485 loop was pushed back by two years and now isn't expected to be completed for a decade.

But Fayetteville's loop was kept on schedule. The first leg opened three years ago and is handling about 9,000 cars a day. The southern leg of Charlotte's loop handles 120,000 cars a day....

BCR's Daily Fishwrap Report for November 21, 2008

A few interesting items in the Fishwrap this morning:

• City Council members have asked the administration to do a better job getting the word out about water/sewer rate increases, which have allowed the city to catch up with needed infrastructure to improve the water supply but which have created a backlash of complaints to City Hall. (We here at BCR guess people have quickly forgotten that little "drought" thing.) (H-S)
• The Lakewood Y deal was approved by the school board yesterday, paving the way for a new Montessori magnet middle school at the Lakewood site. (H-S)
• December 6 is the date for Durham's holiday parade, which will reverse last year's route and run from American Tobacco up to Foster & Geer. (H-S)
• Durham music scene veteran Will McFarlane was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville in October, a nod to his time with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. (N&O)
• If you've missed the Indy's coverage of the DPAC this week, check out their web site. Hilarity ensues when DPAC architect Phil Szostak takes the Indy's Matt Saldaña to town in the comments over what Szostak claims is a misinterpretation of how the guaranteed maximum price contract worked on the deal (as contingency funds not needed for geological work were used instead to improve the interior aesthetics of the building.) Also fun: the Indy complains that the DPAC didn't get a black-box theatre while also complaining that the city spent too much while also complaining that the sound system isn't good enough, while also (?) praising the city for spending far less on this complex than other major cities spend on smaller ones. (Indy Weekly)

Bonfield steers new course for City government

New city manager Tom Bonfield has been clear for some time that he had a new organizational direction in mind for City Hall. That new vision came clear on Thursday with the unveiling of the new structure for the city.

It's a sweeping change, and one which, frankly, creates a logical, understandable organization that makes sense in its direction. Under the new structure, there are three "theme areas" or teams of departments, each under a deputy city manager:

• Operations, including public works, fire, water, police, emergency communications, parks, solid waste, transit, and general services -- under the umbrella of Ted Voorhees. (The public safety departments will continue to report to Bonfield directly but will be under Voorhees' team for cross-group planning and operational efforts.)
• Administration and Support, with finance, budget, HR, IT, and other support departments -- reporting to Wanda Page.
• Community Building, which unites the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, community development, Neighborhood Improvement Services, City/County Planning, and the Human Relations Commission. A third deputy city manager will be brought on to manage this area, with Bonfield maanging these areas in the interim.

Who are the big winners in this one? Neighborhoods, for one, with the unification of functions that support community-oriented and quality of life initiatives grouped into one deputy city manager's portfolio. Essentially, the structure to me looks to have the Community Building team responsible for growing and improving the city, with Operations taking care of day-to-day management and maintenance.

Intriguingly, it also gives top-line attention to community needs in a way that draws recollection to the Durham People's Alliance's call for "a neighborhood advocate at the assistant city manager level."

Raleigh tries on Durham's shoe, doesn't like how it fits

A bit of a chuckle in the N&O today:

It's nice to know that somebody is noticing that the Triangle does, after all, have three sides.

Yes, the N&O has an article today bemoaning the lack of attention that one city in the Triangle receives, the red-headed stepchild of the metro region, overshadowed by two other stars in its constellation.

Only this time, it isn't Durham; it's Raleigh, which N&O food critic Greg Cox notes to be the Rodney Dangerfield of regional dining:

The national media spotlight shining on the local dining scene is nothing new.... But none of those articles mentions Raleigh. Indeed, pretty much all national coverage of the local food scene has focused on Durham and Chapel Hill. The attention has been richly earned, certainly, by a diverse array of establishments ranging from Magnolia Grill to Locopops to the Carrboro Farmers' Market. Even among locals, the western part of the Triangle -- Durham, in particular -- has long been recognized as the Triangle's culinary epicenter. Raleigh, by far the area's largest city, has generally been dismissed as little more than a vast sea of chain restaurants.

Now, Raleigh's fine seafood restaurant Fins has been named the second-best seafood restaurant in the U.S. by Bon Appetit magazine, an appellation that Cox is right to be proud of.

Ironically, Fins was at the heart of a controversy at the NewRaleigh blog recently, which reported that it and the partially-City of Raleigh-financed restaurant The Mint were in danger of closing, a rumor quickly refuted by the restaurant, as highlighted in the Indy's blog.

DPAC gets handed off to operator, plus new naming rights to boot

With the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) less than two weeks from its first performance (B.B. King's kick-off just after Thanksgiving) and its big public open house on December 1, the final wrap-up items are coming in for the facility.

Even as crews are feverishly working on the green space, roads and sidewalks connecting the DPAC to Blackwell St. and American Tobacco, City Manager Tom Bonfield announced during Monday night's City Council meeting that facility operator PFM/Nederlander accepted the building that night just before the Council convened.

Meantime, the City Council today will be briefed on the latest naming deals for the facility.

Duke Energy is taking minor naming rights for the Box Office for $75,000, while KeySource Bank is taking rights for the Orchestra Concessions Area for $7,500.

Meanwhile, the family of Jim Stewart is spending $25,000 on the minor naming rights for the Box Office manager's office.

Stewart, who's long been active in local real estate circles, is the chairman of the board of M&F Bank, a prominent historically black financial institution with long roots in Durham. Mayor Bell joined the M&F Bank board this June after M&F acquired the financially-struggling Mutual Community Savings Bank earlier this year; Bell had been the chair of MCSB's board.

Lewis & Clark proposes small-business office space in old Gilbert St. structure

Scientific Properties isn't the only developer bringing an East Durham proposal before the City Council today. In a second item, Lewis & Clark Community Developers propose the use of almost $200,000 in City-managed Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to support the renovation of an abandoned old industrial building as office space for small businesses.

In the case of Lewis & Clark, the firm's name might seem to recognize the pioneering nature of East Durham investment, though the appellation may be more of a happy coincidence. It refers to principals Chuck Lewis, a developer/general contractor in the area for a quarter-century, and Wendy Clark, entrepreneur and owner of a local cleaning company.

The two formed an LLC late last year and purchased the abandoned structure at 801 Gilbert St. in North-East Central Durham, near TROSA facilities and Durham's Food Bank. According to the developers' web site:

801 Gilbert was built around 1917 as a hosiery mill and purchased in 1919 by Julian Carr, Durham tobacco and hosiery baron. He named the building for his "right-hand man" (and former Carr family slave) John O'Daniel. O'Daniel was one of the earliest African-American landowners in Hayti and he contributed to the building of St. Joseph's Church there. He likely handled for Carr the recruitment and hiring of African-American mill employees, a very rare practice at the time.

After Carr's death, the building became The Farmers' Exchange, a farmers' cooperative that had 900 members by 1935. Small business thrived there in the form of "curb markets," where primarily women sold "poultry, eggs, baked and pickled goods, fresh flowers and vegetables." The site later became a poultry processing plant, and a feed mill built just behind the site later became Southern States mill, still in operation. Financial statements from 1955 and 1956 that were found in the building show it was a significant place of commerce for the city. The Farmers' Exchange appears to have shut down in the early 1980's. During the 1990's, "Cobra," a Hispanic nightclub operated in the building. The site has had little to no commercial activity since then.

The developers envision renovating the structure to become the John O'Daniel Business Center, a structure with small-office space ranging between 180 and 430 sq. ft. for between $295 and $595/month rent. The spaces would feature wireless Internet and access to a shared business services area, including copy, fax and mail services. A meeting room capable of seating 90 would be available on the upper floor of the structure.

InSite unveils Golden Belt area rehab plan to City Council

Note: This post has been corrected to note that while Scientific Properties is a likely natural player in the redevelopment efforts around their site, the InSite plan was prepared strictly by the organization and not by Scientific. The note in a City memo suggesting otherwise was in error. -BCR

One of the questions surrounding recent investments in East Durham -- by local government in the Hope VI projects and new home/townhouse construction, and by Scientific Properties in the old Golden Belt complex -- was whether it would help spur further investment in revitalizing the former working-class, and now economically troubled, part of the Bull City.

Judging by today's City Council agenda, the answer appears to be yes -- though, as proposed, in a way that would keep both the City and Scientific as key players in the effort, and with particular focus on the residential blocks just to the east of the revitalized textile factory.

Scientific is a possible likely investor in a master plan that proposes to acquire almost two dozen properties on the blocks surrounding Golden Belt and use a mix of public and private funds to rehab and revitalize the properties for mixed-income housing with a focus on workers earning below the average regional income.

The developer plays prominently in a report from Durham-based planning and development group Urban InSite to look at neighboring areas within what's dubbed the Golden Belt Historic District. (The District's eastern boundary abuts the City's existing investment in Eastway Village and the under-construction Franklin Village on the site of the old Few Gardens public housing project.)

BCR's Daily Fishwrap Report for November 20, 2008

• That plan for handing off state roads to cities that we railed against here yesterday? Off the table -- for now -- according to today's H-S. Tolls for existing interstates like I-95 and possibly a bridge on I-85 in the mid-state, though not on existing loops like I-540 or the Durham Freeway, are on the table. So are higher vehicle registration fees, or a per-mile tax on actual miles driven to supplant the gas tax, the revenue from which takes a hit with more fuel-efficient vehicles. (H-S #1, #2, N&O)
• While Trinity Parkers have wondered about the status of the hotel project at the old McPherson Hotel site in the current economic times, the N&O reports that site owner Concord Hospitality is flush with cash from recent property sales and that it expects the 82-room Courtyard by Marriott under construction on Main St. to open by the end of 2009. (N&O)
  
• The top three attractions in Durham? The DBAP is number one, followed by the Museum of Life and Science and the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, according to the Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau. You know you've got Duke in town when Cameron Indoor Stadium (#4) outdraws the football stadium that once hosted the Rose Bowl (Wallace Wade, #8), though Coach Cutliffe is well on the path to change the football team's trajectory. (H-S)
• The Herald-Sun has some more detail on the Southpoint play area story we talked about here yesterday, unleashing its education beat reporter on the mall scene for the day. (H-S)

Chuckle of the week (at the expense of the paranoid)

From teh Internets, don't you know? This came up on a message board aimed at people living in or relocating to the Triangle, in a thread about the apparent suicide-by-gunshot outside the new hh gregg store by Southpoint:

What was shocking to me from my experience of having lunch near the shooting(s) on Sunday, was that I am already a very cautious person, avoiding bad areas, never going out at night alone, etc... but still, I had been lulled into a false sense of security by the expensive stores and fancy decor of the Southpoint area. I learned a lesson Sunday, about the triangle, and more than anything, it made me miss the hermetic, upper-middle class neighborhood of my youth. I live in Meadowmont now, where I walk my kids to school and where I shop in the village harris teeter. I now go to movies at the Lumina in Southern Village far away from the hustle and bustle of Southpoint, and the only mall I frequent is University Mall, which is usually so devoid of patrons my kids can run freely from The Toy Store to Hungates with me following after them (this fact also leaves me nervous it will shut it's doors soon!)... all of this though, is an attempt to recreate that peaceful and free childhood existence for my kids... isn't that what they deserve? Yet, the Durham gang-bangers killed the UNC student president about 2 miles from my home... I try desperately to keep away from random violence and gang activity, I just wish it would keep away from me.

Somehow, this leaves me itching with the desire to drive around Meadowmont with an old car that backfires for a few minutes...or to sound a replica of an old Civil Defense nuclear attack siren, and see how many folks have actually built fallout shelters?

I mean, I think Meadowmont's neat, too -- but I don't exactly but on the bulletproof vest if I dare venture down to Southpointyland.