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Thursday, October^19, 2006
Brooklyn revival plan honors history
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PHOTO/LIBRARY OF CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG
Sixth-graders at Myers Street Elementary School In 1969. When the Brooklyn neighborhood
was torn down as part of Charlotte’s urban renewal push, the Second Ward campus was
razed as well.
Continued from page 1A
urban core, is pushing for a
stadium uptown. At issue is
$7.8 million City Council has
been asked to contributa in
infrastructure for a $35 mil
lion, privately-funded
Knights stadium. If the city,
county and school board vote
to approve the swap by the
end of the year, Second
Ward’s transformation - built
with private financing -
would start next springs.
“The only (public) money
spent would be on streets and
sidewalks — the infrastruc
ture,” said Michael Smith,
executive director of Center
City Partners. “The return is
$2.2 million in property tax
(annually) on the baseball
stadium and the Second
Ward development.”
A complex land swap
between the county,
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Schools and Mass Mutual
would put a stadium on the
site of the former Third Ward
park. Mass Mutual would
make land available for a
new 5.2-acre park bounded
by Mint, Graham, Second
and Fourth streets. CMS
would get a new headquar
ters in Second Ward, while
Mass Mutual would acquire
Marshall Park and CMS’s
current headquarters.
Brooklyn Village combines
elements of Brooklyn’s histo
ry as well as condominiums
and apartments that work
ing-class families can afford.
Shops would also be recruited
to the proposed mixed-use,
mixed-income community, as
well as a community center.
“It’s a chance to embrace
that history and build a
diverse community that peo
ple can be proud of,” said Jim
Duhn, Spectrum’s chairman.
‘We can only do this plan if
we can do the land swap.”
Black-owned businesses
would stand to benefit from
Brooklyn Wlage. Dulin said
Spectrum is committed to a
20 percent participation plan
for minority vendors.
‘We’re going to go a step
further,” he said. ‘We’re going
to develop the project with a
diverse team in every aspect
from construction to market
ing. You’ve just have to decide
that’s something you want to
do. We’re being respectful of
the vision plan and the histo
ry of Second Ward.”
Yet to be resolved is a pro
posed Second Ward high
school. Project backers - and
Afiican American advocates
- are pushing for a magnet
school near the site of the for
mer all-black campus that
was razed hfter the 1968-69
academic year. CMS had
originally promised a replace
ment in the 1960s, but
reneged when the district
moved toward desgregation.
Tbday’s school board hasn’t
made a commitment to
Second Ward, either.
While Gantt wouldn’t label
a new school as CMS’s chance
to finally make good on a 40-
year-old promise, he acknowl
edges the possibility.
“The alignment of stars
could produce a high school in
Second Ward, which I think
would excite a lot of people,”
he said. “If I was sitting
there, it would be a slam
dunk.”
Smith is more succinct, call
ing Second Ward “an incredi
ble opportunit)^’ to acknowl
edge part of the city’s history
and make good on promises
deferred.
“If you think Charlotte has
social capital issues. Second
Ward is the hghtning rod for
that,” he said. “This is a great
opportunity to acknowledge
and celebrate our history, and
I think we should do more of
it.”
Coffee Cup campaign seeks supporters
By Herbert L. White
tierb. whife@fhechoriofJeposf.com
The owner of the Coffee
Cup restaurant is stepping
up the grassroots campaign
to save the eatery from demo
lition.
Coffee Cup owner Gardine
Wilson said more than 9,000
supporters have signed a
petition demanding the
restaurant be spared from
the wrecking ball. Beazer
Homes, which owns the
Clarkson Street property on
which the Coffee Cup sits,
has announced its intentions
to raze the building as part of
a project to build condomini
ums and shops. Wilson is also
encouraging Coffee Cup sup
porters to show up at the Oct.
25 meeting of the Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Historic
Landmarks Commission.
That panel has been asked to
designate the Cup as a his
toric site, which would put
the building off-limits to
Beazer.
“Charlotte is continuing to
grow and it is important that
a part of Charlotte’s history
remain as such,” Wilson said
in a statement. “It doesn’t do
a city any good to accept
growth without continuing to
preserve its heritage.”
The Coffee Cup, which
opened in 1947, was one of
the first Charlotte restau
rants to be desegrgated
before federal pubhc accomo
dation laws were passed in
the 1960s. As a result, Wilson
and restaurant supporters
say, the Cup has significant
historical importance to
Charlotte.
The landmarks commission
is expected to vote on the
Coffee Cup’s fate at its Nov.
13 meeting.
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