Bull City Rising

Billboard industry releases long-expected proposal to loosen Durham's outdoor ad restrictions

2009-11-08T09:52:13-05:00

After more than a year of debate and discussion in public forums over the general idea, an attorney for the billboard industry -- long operating in Durham under one of the stricter outdoor advertising rules in the state -- released on Friday a proposed Unified Development Ordinance text amendment that would loosen the rules on billboards in the Bull City. There's few surprises in the text amendment, which was filed by former county commissioner Lewis Cheek, who's now representing Fairway Outdoor Advertising as the applicant requesting the change. There's also likely little new here to change the minds of opponents to any changes. Indeed, the incoming president of Durham's Inter-Neighborhood Council, Tom Miller, was one of the founding fathers of the INC a quarter century ago -- and one of the leading advocates for the billboard restrictions that sit in place today in Durham. New billboard construction has been frozen in Durham since the 1980s, a governmental action that lead to...

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DPAC first-year numbers exceed expectations many times over in profitable start

2009-11-07T09:46:58-05:00

One big question about the DPAC has been, quite simply, what the reaction of the market would be to the massive, 2,800 seat arts center in the heart of downtown Durham. When the Independent Weekly ran its gloomy scrutiny on the project last fall, their reaction was one of civic concern: When DPAC became a reality, there were some eye-popping numbers. First and foremost was the sheer size of the venue: 2,800 seats. Then there were the numbers regarding sales expectations: The break-even point is to sell 60 percent of tickets for 100 shows a year, at $55-$60 per ticket. It seems a tall order for a small city with significant, pressing demands on dwindling public resources, at a time of widespread consumer gloom. Still, the team assembled by general manager Bob Klaus, a veteran of Raleigh's Walnut Creek outdoor concert shed, has been booking performances all year and has much to show for its efforts…. Indeed, the faltering economy is one unfortunate hurdle that programmers have to clear....

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Troika, Harding concert, skate park highlight busy Durham weekend

2009-11-06T10:13:50-05:00

There's a plethora of things to do around the Bull City this weekend, none of them perhaps more high-profile than the Troika Music Festival, which started last night with a free concert at Durham Central Park among other venues. Festival organizer Melissa Thomas joined Barry and me on the "Shooting the Bull" radio show to give a more detailed history of the event, but it can best be boiled down like this: a chance to see a terrific mix of local, regional, and even some on-the-cusp national acts -- like last night's Megafaun, playing downtown Durham before setting off on a European tour -- some of them for the last time in such small venues. The festival, intended to give Durham a chance to host shows and concerts in a region where music had traditionally gravitated south to Chapel Hill/Carrboro or east to Raleigh, was started in 2002 and, after a brief regional play mid-decade, has settled back in to its traditional home in downtown Durham -- as the "bullbot" at right demonstrates. A...

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BCR's Daily Fishwrap Report for November 6, 2009

2009-11-06T08:55:44-05:00

It's a double-sized edition of the Fishwrap, since yesterday was a ... well, let's just say it was a Thursday, and leave it at that, shall way? Rolling Hills Accelerates Planning: Hoping to grab federal stimulus dollars to pay for the effort, the City and McCormick Baron Salazar are doing an accelerated planning effort for the Rolling Hills site that's been largely repurchased with tax dollars, after two failed development attempts on the Hayti urban renewal site. The $80 million effort could contain up to 350 housing units. A kick-off neighborhood meeting happens this Tuesday, followed by a full week of on-site planning and charettes ending with a wrap-up meeting Fri., Nov. 20. (Herald-Sun) Duke Cancer Center Groundbreaking: Today marks the groundbreaking for Duke's new integrated cancer center, part of the $700m construction effort between Duke North and Duke South for a new patient tower and clinics. High population growth and an aging residence base, plus the region's...

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Courthouse project to move forward after Scarborough & Hargett decamps to Carolina Times building

2009-11-05T08:58:20-05:00

The long process of getting the Durham County Courthouse's new site underway took a big step forward this week with the announcement that African-American community institution Scarborough & Hargett has vacated its site at the corner of Dillard and Roxboro near the county jail. The historic funeral home is making its third move in its long history; it was notoriously impacted by urban renewal, which brought the Hayti fixture to its 1960s-era site downtown. "Skeepie" Scarborough, the latest in a long line of family owners and managers of the business, expressed his concerns and frustrations over the impact eminent domain had had on Durham's black community in the community activism forum at the Hayti Heritage Center a couple of weeks ago: My business is 137 years old, fourth generation. We have been eminent domained three times. 1914, 1968, and now. We are all sitting in the area of Hayti, the cradle of society as we call it. 1887 is when it became known. The people who moved here, who...

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Forest Hills debuts new Durham Parks & Rec signage

2009-11-04T10:30:00-05:00

Recent bond issues dating back to the mid-1990s have given Durhamites a chance to shake the rust and ruin off of a number of City parks, which had been some of the biggest losers of deferred maintenance over the years. And even if some of the projects -- like Duke Park or Northgate Park -- didn't happen as quickly or with as much change as residents wanted or thought they'd been promised, the results have been noticeable in terms of the quality and amenities at a wide range of City parks. Except, that is, for the signage out front -- most of which has been stuck in the 1970s with brown-tinted wood signs. One P&R effort in recent years has been a refresh of that signage, with plans and designs brought before Council for approval. And now, Forest Hills is showing off that new look for park signage, as posted to the Forest Hills Neighborhood Association blog. It's a much more modern look for park wayfinding -- though, again, that wouldn't be hard compared to the old signs. (Photo from...

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Downtown Durham gets new video love in new promo piece

2009-11-04T08:49:07-05:00

Downtown Durham Inc. has commissioned a new video short that looks at downtown Durham; the video, available via YouTube (and embedded here below) does a nice job of profiling downtown residents, business leaders and stakeholders. And in the process, it's a good introduction to the urban core of the Bull City for what seems to be an intended audience of recruited businesses and possible new residents. ABC 11 here in town produced the video for the non-profit, and from the production values to some of the shots that feature downtown's transformation, it's a top-notch effort. And one worth a view even if you're a habitual downtown visitor: The video is also available at FindYourCool.net, DDI's video blog site.

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BCR's Daily Fishwrap Report for November 4, 2009

2009-11-04T08:37:42-05:00

The verb used by the Herald-Sun was "swept;" the N&O chose "trounced." That sums up last night's election results, which as we noted here yesterday were basically over almost as soon as the polls closed, with a tiny gaggle of ex-candidates and politicos on-hand at the Courthouse for the numbers. In the press reports, challengers and incumbents say all the things one would expect about running a good race, staying active in politics even though they didn't win, etc. Mayor Bell told NBC 17 that his focus after re-election would be on inner-city neighborhoods -- a theme the Council has worked on in recent years, and one which was perhaps the loudest argument of challengers this cycle. There's just one place the incumbents didn't do as well: the Kids Voting results, in whose mock election Donald Hughes actually bested Cora Cole-McFadden, while Woodard and Clement would have just squeaked by their challengers. So, challengers, take solace: the voters of the next generation are already...

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2010 House 4th: Tom Fetzer is not amused -- and David Price is probably not worried

2009-11-03T23:42:12-05:00

From the just-in-case-you're-not-sick-of-elections-already file: You know, somehow it seems like every time my adopted home state here seems ready to abandon all those old-school stereotypes that come from being closer to the Gulf of Mexico than the Canadian border, something comes along to reinforce those stereotypes. Whether it's real or a smartly-done satire, that something right now comes in the guise of one George Hutchins, putative 2010 candidate for the US House in the seat held by David Price. And what Mr. Hutchins lacks in terms of name recognition, experience holding elected office or whatnot is, well, a web site. Kind of; in the sense that "GeoCities" pages were once web sites: Well, at least we now know who designed the menu at Cuban Revolution. Seriously -- though there isn't much serious here -- the web site has been picked up by Wonkette and other web sites as something so utterly nutty and bizarre that it can't possibly be real. Or -- I shudder -- can it? Among his,...

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Liveblog: 2009 Durham municipal election results -- BCR calls the race for the incumbents

2009-11-03T19:57:30-05:00

Well, if that wasn't the most anti-climactic end to a BCR election liveblogging. After the below comment, and a bit of shop talk with some late-arriving PAC types, it was off to Blue Coffee for the vaunted celebration, an event that had perhaps six or seven times the turnout as the actual BOCC "viewing party." All the incumbents were there, along with other candidates, other elected officials, and more citizenry than one could shake a stick at. And as expected, the final voting fell out decidedly in the incumbents' favor. More on the blow-by-blow to follow in the near future. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The County Courthouse now has one BOE official, one former candidate (John Tarantino), a citizen and a blogger. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ If it's not obvious already, BCR is calling all four races for the incumbents. Off to Blue Coffee Cafe. Drew is leading all of the challengers in number of votes. 1,312 (28.5%) for Matt Drew with 43% of precincts reporting. Hughes and Williams are inches apart (1,150 and 1,159)...

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