INC NEWS - [pac3] Lakewood YMCA Saved!

Tue Nov 25 10:15:56 EST 2008

Kudos to all for taking the incentive and all the hard work
To those of us who have lived with the Y it is a huge accomplishment to have saved it for the future in SWCD
Jeff
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Chuck Clifton 
  To: save-the-lakewood-ymca at yahoogroups.com ; long_meadow at yahoogroups.com ; pac3 at yahoogroups.com ; tlna-list at googlegroups.com ; inc-list at durhaminc.org 
  Cc: Ellen Reckhow ; Becky M. Heron ; Lewis Cheek ; Mike Ruffin ; Reyn Bowman 
  Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 9:19 AM
  Subject: [pac3] Lakewood YMCA Saved!

  Well we have done it!  "We" being the broader Durham community that is!  Because of the great work of committed YMCA members, vigilant neighborhood supporters, and our county and school board officials, the Lakewood YMCA is well on its way to its new life as a middle school and YMCA as announced back in the spring.  

  In addition to preserving a vital and diverse community at the Lakewood YMCA, this act of renewal will serve as an anchor for the Lakewood Community and a glimmer of hope for the revitalization of the Chapel Hill Road corridor.  And to this list we can now add a progressive and much needed learning center for Durham's youth.  This is just another example that Durham is "where great things happen!"

  Along with the Durham County Board of Commissioners and the Durham Board of Education, I strongly encourage you all to reach out to and thank in particular Commissioner Ellen Reckhow, Commissioner Becky Heron, Commissioner Lewis Cheek, and County Manager Mike Ruffin all who were with us throughout this struggle.

  Kind regards,

  Chuck Clifton
  Chairman, Committee to Save the Lakewood YMCA

  "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."
  ~ Mohandas Gandhi ~

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  Commissioners OK Lakewood YMCA deal

  By Matt Goad : The Herald-Sun
  mgoad at heraldsun.com
  Nov 25, 2008 

  DURHAM -- The Durham Board of County Commissioners on Monday unanimously approved a deal to save the Lakewood YMCA and to use the property for a middle school. 

  A capital project will be created appropriating $8.25 million, of which $250,000 is for purchase of the property at 2119 Chapel Hill St. and $8 million is for renovation. 

  The move keeps the YMCA active at a Lakewood facility it once planned to abandon. 

  At a public hearing before the vote, Victoria Peterson, who runs a nonprofit organization in North East Central Durham, said she was concerned the Y was following a trend of private businesses and organizations looking to the government to bail them out. 

  Peterson also said she would like to see part of the facility used as a vocational center where GED and nurses assistance programs could be developed. 

  Commission Lewis Cheek said he had been a member of the Lakewood Y since he was a teenager and that he didn't believe the facility could function as a vocational site. 

  Also at the public hearing, Lavonia Allison of the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People said she was concerned that the development of a school on the property might work toward resegregation of Durham Public Schools. 

  The county agreed to purchase the entire Lakewood property, including several buildings totaling approximately 57,350 square feet on approximately 74 acres. The county will lease for $1 a year approximately 18,000 square feet of the property back to the YMCA for operation of the Y facility. 

  Also Monday commissioners: 

  - Unanimously approved changed sections of the Unified Development Ordinance intended to encourage developers to keep environmental preservation features in new developments. 

  - Approved by consent the nominations of County Manager Mike Ruffin, Ira Smith and the Rev. Kenneth Hammond to the Duke University Health System Board of Directors, with a note from Cheek that Ruffin be indicated as the preferred choice. 

  - Approved by consent an offer to purchase county surplus property at 414 Salem St. 

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