Two weeks ago, the Town of Davidson received an updated report on the Catalyst Project - the proposed multi-use facility for the town Center that the Town has been working on with the UNC School of Government over the past several months.
According to the consultants from the UNC-SOG, the most popular proposal floated by developers includes a new hotel and convention facility on the town owned property along Main and Jackson streets as well as 400+ parking spaces along with new residential, retail, and office space – totaling hundreds of thousands of square feet in new construction.
Now, over the recent years I have given Davidson town hall a fair amount of grief, but I have not sounded off on too much is this one. Frankly, when this idea first surfaced, I thought surely they will not pursue this. Then again, this is the same town that entered the cable TV business and bought Mi-Connection.
Avoiding bad ideas, is not always Town Hall’s strong suit.
Well, in the last week, others have taken up the challenge of challenging this idea which could have everlasting impact on the town.
It is one thing for someone like myself who is relatively new to town to chime in on local politics. It is entirely something else when one of the town’s favorite sons from one of the town's oldest family names does it.
Last Friday, Rusty Knox launched a Facebook Page titled “Paradise Lost”. Within two days it had over 300 “likes” with multiple posters commenting. None of the comments were what you’d call “supportive” of the Catalyst Project.
Many people know Rusty from his work as a professional musician, but his family is also part of the bedrock in Davidson. His father, Russell Knox, was a longtime mayor, and the family real estate business has been around for decades. In years past, they were involved in rehabbing several of the old buildings along Main Street.
I checked in with Rusty Knox on why he started the page. The answer was poetic and personal.
On his first album, one of the songs was about his home town of Davidson. The song was titled “Paradise Lost”. Here are the lyrics:
The big city’s here with all the traffic and fear
Paradise is lost once more
There’ll come a day
When we all stop and say
Trees used to grow around here
What was the cost?
Now that Paradise is lost once more
Cars come and go- their pace never slows
Careful when crossing the street
The interstate’s stopped-we’re caught in gridlock
We got a mall ain’t that neat
There’ll come a day
When we all stop and say
Trees used to grow around here
What was the cost?
Now that Paradise is lost once more
Buildings come up with concrete and dust
Floating around in the air
The parking lots full and so are the schools
Leadership just doesn’t care
There’ll come a day
When we all stop and say
Trees used to grow around here
What was the cost?
Now that Paradise is lost once more
The concern with the Catalyst Project according to Knox is that once the small town is gone you can't get it back. “It's gone forever.”
That’s not to say all growth is bad or that opposition to the project is based on NIMBYism. It’s also not about saying “I've got mine, and nobody else should have it.” It is about protecting the small town character at the town’s core – both figuratively and literally.
Town Hall is driving the Catalyst Project - supposedly in the spirit of the town’s Comprehensive Plan developed back in 2010. Ironically, the Town likes to tout that the Comprehensive Plan involved input from over 150 volunteers over several months. The Paradise Lost page garnered more than twice as many followers in two days.
That should tell us something.
If you are interested in joining the discussion, “like” the Paradise Lost page on Facebook. There is also a Facebook group by the same name. As importantly, attend town meetings when they are held to make sure officials know what you think.
One point, as I have not chosen a side, comparing 300 Facebook "Likes" to 150 volunteers that spent free time working on the CP in 2010 is an absurd analogy.
ReplyDeleteAnon, Thanks for the comment and thanks for reading. I do wish you'd have put your nameon it though.
ReplyDeleteCurious about one thing. Does participation in the Comprehensive Plan somehow entitle people to more of an opinion than others? Not saying you are one of the 150, again, you posted anonymously, but that weightiness would be the clear implication of your comment.
I read in the paper that the Catalyst Project was being let for construction bids. Does that mean it is a done deal from the Board standpoint? Why is there such a rush to use to every space in Davidson, I hear the cry for open space and greenways but see very little downtown except for the College owned "Grove". For those who don't know the Grove is what most folks call the Green. It was called the Grove from the beginning of Davidson until around 1973 when a local businessman started calling it the village green. It seems the way things are going, we will no longer be a village or be green,
ReplyDeleteSandy, I've spoken to two different commissioners in the past few days, so here's how I understand where things sit at this point.
ReplyDeleteIt was discussed at the presentation by the UNC SOG consultants a couple weeks got about putting our an RFP type of document to get more information for the Board to work with in its decision making process. That was based on the Board "endorsing" the hotel option for them Catalyst Project. That endorsement should not be interpreted as a "vote" of the Board or an indication that the project is a "go" at this point.
In fact, my understanding is that even this next step may be delayed after the recent concerns expressed by citizens.