DEMOLITION PAYOFF

News in the Durham Herald-Sun today nicely outlines the economic punch line for two of my previous posts - my profile of the city's intent to tear down structures at Little Five Points and Union Missionary Baptist Church's demolition of African-American civil rights history by tearing down the old Royal Ice Cream Parlor.

Turns out, (just by chance) that UDI, the mayor's development company (he is Chief Operating Officer), is going to get a $186,107 grant from the city council to tear down historic structures at Little Five Points and build a new building. Now mind you, they don't own these buildings. They are using the Housing department to threaten the owner with a demolition order (really called a repair-or-demolish order, but guess which one happens). I have no particular sympathy for the owner, who has allowed historic structures throughout the city to rot, but this is clearly an abuse of the city's police power. This power derives from the state to protect the public health - not to create sweetheart economic development deals that benefit the mayor's company.

Union Missionary Baptist Church is going to get a $75,107 grant towards building a church-based school on the site of the civil rights teardown.

(Kudos, by the way to the Old North Durham Neighborhood Association, which fought the funded demolition at LFP)

I couldn't have asked for the incentives to be laid out more nicely; if you tear down historic structures, the city will pay you.

You can read the story in the Herald-Sun.