INC NEWS - If you want a free house, then move it (N&O)

[John Schelp]

You can see photographs of the houses at Endangered
Durham... http://endangereddurham.blogspot.com/

have a good day,
John

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If you want a free house, then move it
By Anne Blythe, News & Observer, 31 Jan 2007 

Duke University is giving away houses -- a dozen
remnants from the old mill village that stand in the
way of ambitious plans for the future.
There's a catch, though.

You have to move the house from where it is now, and
depending on the distance, number of power lines in
the path and other factors, a relocation can be quite
pricey.

"Just like there's no such thing as a free lunch,
there's no such thing as a free house," said Carrie
Mowry, community development specialist for
Preservation Durham.

Duke plans to transform the 198 acres between West
Campus and East Campus into a mix of student housing,
classrooms, arts centers, research buildings and
campus-based restaurants and stores.

The City Council recently approved a rezoning for
Central Campus that clears the way for the expansion.

As part of an extensive negotiation with neighborhood
and local business advocates, Duke agreed to offer the
former mill homes to anyone willing to move them. The
university also will put $5,000 toward the move,
according to John Schelp, a neighborhood advocate and
preservationist heralding the proposal.

The places up for grabs are: 1919 Yearby Ave., 1713
Pace St., 305, 307, 310 and 311 Alexander Ave, 405 and
408 Swift Ave., 1511 and 1513 Hull Ave., 308 Powe St.,
and 309 Garden St.

Few house moves cost less than $10,000, and most are
much higher.

Mowry, the community development specialist with
Preservation Durham, said it could take the entire
$5,000 from Duke to build a new foundation for the
relocated homes.

Preservationists prefer that structures be preserved
in their original environment, Mowry said.

"Ideally they should be moved to places like their
native habitats so mill villages would be where we
hope they end up," Mowry said.

There are mill houses still in West and East Durham,
Mowry said, There are vacant lots on West Main Street
in the shadows of the old cotton mills that Mowry
hopes might one day house the old houses.

The Yearby Avenue and Garden Street properties need to
be moved sooner than the rest, Mowry said.

Duke officials could not be reached for comment
Tuesday.

The Garden Street house is a former grocery store that
harkens back to a time when the Erwin Cotton Mills
were a major player in the city's economy.

The grocery, built around 1924, was managed for many
years by a Mr. Tilley, who was a justice of the peace.

To find out more about acquiring the houses, send
e-mail to mowry at carrie at preservationdurham.org or
682-3036.

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