A recent disagreement between Duke and Durham regarding access and management of two public streets near campus may soon be resolved.
At the April 6 City Council meeting, Duke officials proposed a plan to privatize Maxwell Avenue and Sumter Street off South Buchanan Boulevard, an area encompassing Smith Warehouse. The resolution was proposed for the fifth time since December 2008, but council members postponed approval until their May 4 session, stating that the plan may worsen Duke-Durham relations as it would close off vehicular access to the two streets for Durham residents, council member Eugene Brown said.
Brown added that he did not see a concrete reason to privatize Maxwell Street and Sumter Avenue given Duke's proposal at the meeting.
If privatized, Duke would pave the two streets, build gated parking lots for Smith Warehouse employees, improve underground infrastructure of the streets and build sidewalks along Smith Warehouse on Maxwell Street, said Phail Wynn, Duke's vice president for Durham and regional affairs.
"Whenever you give away a street or close a street, there has to be a public reason for doing that, and Duke did not make their case very well," Brown said. "They didn't make it very well at all, and it's embarrassing, and they know it.... They basically wanted to turn Maxwell Street into their own parking lot."
But Wynn said he has spoken with President Richard Brodhead and local neighborhood associations, which want public access to the roads, to create a new proposal to be discussed with neighborhood leaders Thursday. If approved, the new plan will allow vehicular access to Maxwell Street between 6 a.m. and midnight. After these hours, the streets will be gated off and restricted to authorized vehicles. The street plans are part of the ongoing renovations of Smith Warehouse facilities, which will likely be completed this Fall, Wynn said.
Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, said he hopes the gates will ensure security while opening Duke's campus to Durham residents.
"The Smith Warehouse, the power plant and the space around [the warehouse] is about a $15 million project that is going to ultimately put 650 full-time employees... in connection to downtown Durham," Schoenfeld said. "We have been working to come up with a solution that prevents the kind of access that needs to be there but ensures safety and security of those who will be working in that facility."
Mayor Bill Bell said he is hopeful Duke will be able to compromise with neighborhood associations.
Wynn added that Duke-Durham relations may improve if the new proposal passes, as the Maxwell Street and Sumter Avenue disagreement has negatively impacted town-gown relations.
"We can go back and focus on the importance of doing major renovations to adapt a historic [Smith Warehouse] facility and to maintain and sustain the viability of Durham," he said.
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