INC NEWS - Duke Central Campus story on News 14

[John Schelp]

Businesses satisfied with Duke’s Central Campus plan
News 14 Carolina, 19 Jan 2007

For 30 years, The Regulator Bookshop has called Ninth
Street home.

"I’ve never regretted staying in this area," said
owner Tom Campbell. 

He says it is an area good for business since it is
popular with Durham residents as well as Duke
students. But Duke's plans for its Central Campus
threatened to change that.

"I know that at one point, their plans also included a
very big bookstore, and that got my interest,"
Campbell said. 

His bookshop is just a quarter of a mile from Duke's
Central Campus, which is a 200-acre stretch between
East Campus and West Campus. The university wants to
transform the area over the next several decades and
add new residential and retail space.

For four years, neighbors, Ninth Street businesses,
and the university have disagreed about what a
transformed Central Campus would look like. But
recently, the parties were able to break through the
so-called Gothic ceiling.

"We have broken through the Gothic ceiling because for
four years Duke was mostly ignoring us," explained
John Schelp, who is president of the Old West Durham
Neighborhood Association.

Schelp says things have changed within the past few
months, and the neighbors, Ninth Street businesses,
and the university have reached an agreement. Duke
must keep new residential units to three stories or
less, set aside open space, and limit new retail to
50,000 square feet - something Tom Campbell was
pushing for.

“From the point of view of a merchant here on Ninth
Street, it's certainly a good outcome," he said.

Earlier this week, the Durham City Council approved
rezoning a 128-acre piece of Central Campus as part of
Duke's plan. Durham City Councilman Mike Woodard said
the request got the green light only after the
university, neighbors, and local businesses reached an
agreement.


source: news14.com