Pace A2 Winston-SaJem Cbronick Thursday, July 14, 1988
East Winston Task Force tags two 'blighted' areas for improvements
By VALLRIE ROBACK GREGG
Chronicle Staff Writer
Two East Winston areas have
been declared "blighted" by the city
Planning Board so the city can
improve the areas' environment and
economy, a planning official told
the East Winston Development
'’.ask Force Thursday.
The city may eventually be
able to acquire and refurbish the
blighted plots - one 42 acres and
the other 23 acres •• said Ann
Massey, city planning division
supervisor.
The move is included in the
East Winston Area Plan adopted by
the Board of Aldermen last Septem
ber. The plan calls for the redevel
opment of East Winston by improv
ing transportation, housing and the
economy.
The S9 million raised in last
November's bond referendum will
fund the city's renovation of the
blighted areas. The city will reno
vate some of the apartment build
ings there for public housing, other
buildings will be demolished and
vacant lots filled with tall weeds
and debris will be cleared, Massey
said.
A survey of the blighted areas,
conducted by the city Housing Ser
vices Department, determined that
the structures have fallen into such
disrepair that many must be demol
ished or renovated in order to suc
cessfully redevelop East Winston.
The city Planning Board and
Department of Housing and Rede
velopment are now designing a
redevelopment plan for the blighted
areas. The redevelopment plan is
another step in the East Winston
Area Plan, and must be approved
by both the city Planning Board and
Board of Aldermen.
Neighborhood meetings will be
held near the end of August, before
final completion of the plan, said
Monica Lett, director of the city
Eiepartment of Housing and Neigh
borhood Development. Lett said
she hop>es the redevelopment plan
will receive final approval by
November.
"We're almost at the end of the
planning stage now and ready to
begin implementation," Director of
Housing Services David R. Brooks
said Friday. To implement the
plan, the city will acquire some of
the land through condemnation and
then demolish or renovate it.
Brooks said.
Under state urban redevelop
ment law, if an area fits the defini
tion of "blighted", the city can take
control of the land. To be declared
blighted, the area's buildings must be
dilapidated, deteriorated, have poor
ventilation and lighting, have little
open space, pose fire hazards, and
have unsanitary and unsafe condi
tions - all of which impair the
sound economic growth of the area,
Massey said. These conditions con
tribute to health problems, infant
mortality, crime and juvenile delin
quency.
At least two-thirds of the build
ings must fall into this category in
order for the city to claim the land,
Massey said. "There were two
areas in East Winston where we
found these conditions,” she said.
The 23-acre "blighted" section
borders to the south at ISth Street,
on the west at Liberty Street, on the
north at 21st Street, and on the east
at Cleveland Avenue. The 42-acre
plot borders to the south on Nth
Street, to the west at Cleveland
photo by Mike Cunningham
The East Winston Task Force has Identified two areas in East Winston as "blighted" and target
ed the areas for economical and environmental improvements.
Avenue, on the north at 18th Street,
and on the East at Jackson Avenue.
Of 148 structures in the 42-acre
area, only 18 need no repairs,
Massey said. About one-half of the
houses here were built before 1940
and, "they do show their age," she
said. Several overgrown lots there
are filled with trash and debris and
10 lots, but no buildings, are owned
by the city. About 412 people live
in the area.
In the 23-acre area, only four
of the 73 buildings there need no
repairs. Drugs are a serious crime
problem in this area, Massey said,
and about 235 people live there. Of
the 146 housing units available in
$28K earmarked to fight AIDS in E. Winston
By VALERIE ROBACK GREGG
Chronicle Staff Writer
The Forsyth County Health
Department has pinpointed East
Winston as harboring the greatest
concentration of people in the city
who are at risk of contracting
AIDS. Consequently, county groups
are aiming the fight against the dis
ease at the city’s Afro-American
community.
The Winston-Salem AIDS Task
Force and STEP ONE, Inc., a drug
abuse treatment program, have
applied for a $28,000 federal grant
to conduct an intense AIDS educa
tion effort in East Winston. The
state will vote on the grant in early
August, said John Shields, executive
director of STEP ONE, Inc.
East Winston was identified as
an AIDS high risk area because the
highest concentration of intravenous
drug users are known to live there,
and AIDS is spreading most rapidly
among that group. Shields said. IV
drug users are at risk of AIDS
because they commonly sliare drug
needles, he said.
"When they say the highest risk
group is in East Winston, it is
because it's easier to find them there,
because of the way housing is,"
Shields said. "That's not to say
there's not as many whites doing it
elsewhere. We don’t want to give
the false impression that's it's Just a
Black problem, but one of our
biggest problems is convincing the
Black community that it's not just a
gay, white disease."
The grant would be part of
$90,000 of federal funds earmarked
especially for the state's minority
communities and dispensed through
the North Carolina AIDS Control
Program. "Some of the assumptions
behind that is the higher rate of
addiction among low-income peo
ple," Shields said.
The $28,000 grant would help
STEP ONE, Inc. and the county's
AIDS Task Force to educate IV drug
users in East Winston. Two half
time employees will be employed by
STEP ONE to search out IV drug
users there and tell them how to
avoid getting and transmitting
AIDS.
The problem of AIDS among the
Afro-American community, both
men and women, heterosexual and
homosexual, is growing, according to
statistics from the Division of Health
Services AIDS Control Program. Of
the 558 AIDS cases reported to the
Center for Disease Control by June
27, 249 ~ or 45.8 percent - of the
victims were Afro-Americans, 54
were females and 504 were males.
About 54 percent of the reported
cases have already died.
According to Dr. Thomas R.
Dundon, director of the Reynolds
Health Center, 55 Forsyth County
natives have contracted the disease
and reported it to the county Health
Department. This figure does not
include those who are infected with
the AIDS virus but have not yet
developed the disease, he said. "For
every person reported to have AIDS,
there are a number of people who
have been infected," Dundon said.
"There are more whites with the dis
ease, but the incidence within the
Hatcher says Britt is threat
From Page A1
Hatcher accused Britt of being
relentless and biased in his prosecu
tion of minorities.
Britt had faced serious opposi
tion for the judgeship from Julian
Pierce, an Indian and Pembroke
attorney, who was murdered before
the primary election. Pierce was
reportedly killed by an irate
acquaintance, who later killed him
self. Despite his death, Robeson
County voters still delivered a sym
bolic victory to Pierce.
Hatcher and many Robeson
County Indians remain skeptical
about the nature of Pierce’s death.
"We have two investigators work
ing around the clock on the Julian
Pierce case," said Hatcher.
He said that they had requested
a Congressional investigation into
the activities of law enforcement
officials in Robeson County.
Hatcher moved to Winston-
Salem to live with his uncle, Jim
Hatcher, a former candidate for the
County Board of Commissioners.
His trial had been scheduled for this
week, but has been postponed until
August 7.
He said he planned to spend a
lot of his time getting Afro-Ameri
cans and other minorities, in Win
ston-Salem and around the state,
organized against Britt.
"Blacks and other minorities
need to know what will happen if
he is elected Superior Court judge,"
said Hatcher.
He addressed the congregation
at Emmanuel Baptist Church Sun
day. He said he planned to speak
with other ministers and heads of
organizations. "They need to inform
their church members and organiza
tion members of what’s going on so
they will know what to do."
the area, only 93 are occupied.
Many are vacant and boarded up.
City Alderman and real estate
agent Virginia K. Newell said the
Black population is higher.”
Shields said that AIDS is now
spreading faster nationwide among
IV drug users than any other group.
STEP ONE is only one of several
drug treatment programs in the city,
but 65 percent of their admissions
during the last fiscal year were Afro-
American. Of the total 539 admis
sions in STEP ONE last year, 135
were IV drug users. "And I wouldn't
be surprised if that’s only 5 percent
of the folks who are (IV drug users
in the city)." Shields said.
If approved, about $20,000 of
the grant money will be used for the
two employees' salaries, $1,025 will
purchase condoms for the employees
to distribute, and the remainder will
be used for administrative purposes,
Shields said.
Eveiy patient in the STEP ONE
program must attend an AIDS educa
tion workshop. Shields said. Reynolds
Health Center also conducts regular
ADS education sessions as well as
counseling for those who are tested for
the ADS virus. Physicians' Assistant
Robert Wooten said.
is "a acp i„ 4,
“0" should evcniu* *'"'
age development.
Ernest H. Piu
•ask force, asked
had plans
»™=rcial dev=l„p„„,,: '•
said, Thecuydocsnoib, ' .
aggressive marketin,, „„ “f
EascWi„slo„,pr&
^^ ;s in implcrcenung
The possibility of dechrl.
part of East Winsta
Zone to atnaet commercial 5
opmen, ha., been discussed
1.1'klorce, but Slate tads
^ave no,
appjos^, cityDevelopmentp*'
tor J. Allen Joines said,
The enterprise zones could i*
IT’rtatC Piu said. "Wen«d
lollow that. Ihaveaconcetu^;
-v k,iiy follows through on ih?
commiiment." ^ °
While conditions in thev nm..
of^t Winston have woisenedo*
the last three years, diey are sabsB.
hally better than fivi ye*;
Massey sard. "ThewomtbasJ ’
down,' she said. "Ihe Board.1
Aldemien had an aggressive pole,
of going after slum lords, and J
units were tom down." The Bwdd
Aldermen voted just last ntonibj
condemn four buildings on Caoem
and Gray Streets.
The city Department of Hous
ing and Redevelopment has
oped a five-year housing and retfc
vclopmeni schedule for East Win-
ston, Massey told the task force.
Dr. W. Rod Warren
In Association With
Dr. J. Raymond Oliver
Family & Cosmetic Dentistry
New Patients Always Welcome
Evening wid Saturday Appointments Avaiiabk
■ Cosmetic Bonding . Dentures 8 Partial Repais
■ Exiractions . Cleanings
• Root Canals . Crowns & Bridges
' Full & Partial Dentures • Emergency Sentice
• Insurance & Medicaid Accepted
724-5054 Jetway Shopping Center
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