INC NEWS - Letter: DDI shouldn't recruit library from East Durham (Herald-Sun)

[John Schelp]

An excellent letter that raises some important
questions...

Letter: DDI shouldn't recruit library from East Durham
Herald-Sun, 28 October 2006

DDI is pitching the old Woolworth's site as a site for
the new library, and what a boon the library would be
for the "central district." DDI's service area
includes the area east of Roxboro to Dillard Street.
Why poach from the east to boost the center?
 
We are sympathetic to the library's need for a new
building, but shouldn't DDI be recruiting development
to the east side of Roxboro rather than recruiting the
library to the west? Is lobbying for the shifting of
desirable government services to serve developer
interests really an appropriate use of taxpayer funds?
 
Advocates for the 9th Street area have fought this
'in-town recruiting' battle before. Residents of the
Cleveland-Holloway neighborhood don't have the
organization or clout that western neighborhoods have.
But residents and businesses on the east side of
Durham's downtown, such as those at 305 South, will
suffer from the loss of the library. Economic
investment in the east side of downtown will help all
of downtown.
 
The HOPE VI redevelopment and Andy Rothschild's
proposed redevelopment of Golden Belt can be
catalysts. But pulling the library out from under them
will undermine these efforts, and, more importantly,
the small, individual efforts of homeowners on the
east side of town.
 
The Loop (and Liberty Street) are the problems that
isolate the library. Why do we keep passing over the
Loop to fix other problems? 

Gary Kueber

This letter was signed by 16 more residents of the
Cleveland-Holloway Neighborhood.