Thursday, June 21, 2007

Viva La Revolution!

Jim Schlosser covers the adaptive re-use of Greensboro's Revolution Mill that Jim Peeples is working on:

"These mills were really significant to the history of Greensboro and southern textiles ... They are to Greensboro what tobacco plants were to Durham."
Yes indeed. And from a transplanted midwesterner's point of view, it seems odd to me that city leaders aren't trumpeting projects like this for the purposes of city identity-building and "branding." Not to mention that it's a class-A, mixed-use infilll project that city leaders say they favor. (Remember the Comprehensive Plan?)

This report from Preservation North Carolina says that the city has been very cooperative on the project in the areas of zoning and building inspections, and that the value of the property has quadrupled since the project started.

But there's a problem that Hoggard says has been underreported: the city is redoing sewage lines nearby, and will be dynamite-blasting eight feet from one of historic structures. The city will accept no liability for any damage, and is deaf to Peeple's warnings of danger.

It's time to get the water and sewer department on the same page with planning, zoning, and inspections. I'm going to call my councilwoman right now.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have you heard that the Guilford County Commissioners are planning to cut the County's only historic preservation position from next year's budget? You'll see fewer economic development projects like Revolution Mill if that happens. Commissioner's meet tonight at 5:30 so people need to show up and ask that this valuable position not be eliminated.

Vada Bostian said...

As a tenant in the Nussbaum Center, and the girlfriend of a coffee roaster in another part of the building, I can say that they are doing a wonderful job over there! This is the kind of project that Greensboro needs to see a lot more of.