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The Chron ic lc
Volume39,Number2 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, September 6, 2012
Transit
hub could
be gold
for WSSU
BYLAYLAGARMS
THE CHRONICLE
Now that the City of Winston-Salem is finally
about to reclaim the old Union Station building,
leaders at Winston-Salem State University are
envisioning what a proposed revitalized train sta
tion and transportation hub would mean for the
school.
Davis Garage has occupied the former Union
Station station building, a registered historical
landmark constructed in 1926, for the past 35
years. For years, the City has been in a financial
tug-a-war with the family who owns the garage.
After usine its eminent
domain power and forking
over SI.35 million, the
City says the struggle is
nearly over. It has given
the Davis family until the
end of November to vacate
the property, although the
family has requested that
the City Council consider a
lease extension at a
Council meeting later this
year.
"The acquisition has
taken longer than we had
anticipated," said Assistant
City Manager Greg
Turner, who oversees the
city's Transportation divi
sion. "But transportation
projects tend to be long
range projects. You pre
pare yourself for that when
you start something like
this."
Once the garage has
left, the city has big plans for the property, which
sits on Excelsior Street, perpendicular to the
Business 40 interchange on Martin Luther King
Jr. Drive and adjacent to the sprawling WSSU
campus. City leaders plan to use state and federal
dollars to renovate the property and make it again
a center for transit activity.
Carol Davis, executive director of Winston
Salem State's Simon Green Atkins CDC, has
worked for years to foster economic development
and growth along the Martin Luther King
Corridor, or "The Golden Mile," as the CDC has
dubbed it. Davis believes a resurrected train sta
tion could be a key component in redevelopment
efforts in the area.
"Union Station is in a great location. It's easily
accessible from downtown and major highways -
US 52 and Interstate 40 and Business 40. A lot of
See Station on A5
Davis
Turner
Photo by Layfa Ganro
Firefighters
(from left)
David
Navarro,
Danielle
Edwards and
David Heck
stand in front
of Engine 06
on Academy
Street.
Fire Department makes push
for greater diversity
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
Though Hispanics make up nearly 15 percent of
Winston-Salem's total population (according to
recent Census figures), Mexican-American David
Navarro says faces like his are few and far between
in the Winston-Salem Fire Department.
Navarro, who completed his firefighter training
in June, is one of only a handful of local Hispanic
firefighters.
The Fire Department is 27 percent African
Americans, a fair representation in a city that is 34
percent black, but Hispanics make up just over one
percent of the WSFD.
According to Assistant Fire Chief Freddie
Broome, increasing diversity within the
Department has been an ongoing effort for the city.
"I think part of it is we've got to do a better job
of getting out into the communities, and that's
what our mission is now," said Broome, a 16-year
veteran. "We have to show that this is an organiza
tion that you want to be a part of."
Navarro, 25, agrees.
"Basically, 1 guess (Hispanic) people don't
think that's open to them, like an option for them,"
the father of two said of becoming a firefighter.
See WSFD on A6
Broome
They're Back!!!
WSSU Flmo by Qanaa Oms
Connell May nor leads his Winston-Salem State Rams into battle on Saturday for the team's season opener against UNC
Pembroke. The Rams, who had a near-perfect 2011-12 season, squeezed out a victory, besting the Braves 28-23. The team hits the
road Saturday to play Athens, W.Va.'s Concord University Mountain Lions.
Habitat turns focus to the old and new
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
For 23 years, Dorothy Brown's
home has been her (Hide and joy.
"I really
wanted a place to
call my own," the
mother of two
said of her moti
vation to pur
chase the cozy
ranch-style house
on the corner of
14th Street and
Garfield Avenue.
"I thank God for
Hawk
li. nc gave me
this place, and I try to keep it up the
best I can."
But Brown, 64, who suffers from
lupus, says her health and financial
constraints prevent her from keeping
her home the condition that she would
like.
"I am alone, by myself, and there's
a lot of wotk that needs to be done,"
said the grandmother of seven.
Help arrived last week in the form
of a team of volunteers from Habitat
for Humanity of Forsyth County.
Phdos by LayU
Gaims
Dorothy
Brown
stands on
the front
porch of
her house
in the
Cherry
Street com
munity.
Stephen Hawk, a lead carpenter for
Habitat Forsyth, directed the volun
teers, who tackled everything from
porch and siding repairs to painting,
weatherizing and landscaping.
"Since it's on a comer lot, it's kind
, See Habitat on A9
Photo by LaykOm
Ron Stacker Thompson stands on the UNCSA campus.
Book festival coming Saturday
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
Book lovers from far and wide
will again descend on Winston
Salem Saturday for the state's
largest annual free book festival.
Bookmarks Festival of Books.
Bookmarks Executive
Director Ginger Hendricks says
that about 8,000 book lovers are
expected at the Festival, which
will be staged at venues through
out the downtown Arts District
from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. More
than 45 authors are expected to be
in attendance. They will auto
See Bookmarks on A3
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