On Election Day, Durham residents will consider two proposals on $200 million worth of city infrastructure updates in the form of a new aquatic center and renovations to parks, streets and sidewalks in a referendum vote.
The Connecting Durham: 2024 Bond Referendum will ask residents to decide whether Durham can borrow $85 million towards parks and recreations bonds and $115 million in streets and sidewalks bonds. Both bond proposals are general obligation, a type of bond which must be approved by voters and repaid with interest through taxes as opposed to revenue.
Together, the bonds would result in a property tax rate increase of 3.46 cents per $100 of assessed value. This rate would amount to an annual cost of $104 for a property valued at $300,000.
The parks and recreation bond would support a brand new aquatic center at Merrick-Moore Park, located 4.5 miles from Duke’s campus. The $43 million allocation would enable the construction of “the newest and most inclusively designed public water park in Durham.” The water park will feature a lazy river, a pool space and zero-depth entry.
The park will “[activate] this section of East Durham and [complete] the transformation of Merrick-Moore Park from once-vacant land and abandoned buildings to a recreational complex serving a historically underserved area of Durham and the region as a whole,” the referendum’s website reads.
If the referendum is passed, construction of the aquatic center will begin in fall 2026, and the facility would open in summer 2028.
$42 million would be allocated towards a new pool, play areas, athletic fields and courts and “other improvements” at Long Meadow and East End Parks on Alston Avenue, located about four and three miles from Duke’s campus, respectively.
“This historic project would connect and make major improvements to two neighborhood parks rooted in segregation,” the website reads. The parks would be connected along the R. Kelly Bryant Bridge Trail.
East End Park is one of five parks that closed in August 2023 after lead levels greater than the Environmental Protection Agency’s accepted threshold of 400 parts per million were detected in a December 2022 study by Duke researchers. The parks remain closed as decontamination efforts continue.
The park renovations would begin in fall 2026 and complete by summer 2028.
The streets and sidewalks bond would allocate $60 million towards new sidewalks. The bond would support the construction of 11 top-priority sidewalks, which are in areas with “a lot of pedestrian traffic and safety issues” and would be a step towards the “Vision Zero Durham goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries.”
$15 million would be allocated toward sidewalk repairs, $30 million toward street repaving and maintenance and $10 million toward paving unpaved streets.
The City of Durham created a map showing the locations of street and sidewalk projects that would be funded by the referendum.
According to the referendum’s frequently asked questions, Durham gets a “good” interest rate on the general obligation bonds because it received the highest possible rating from each of three organizations which evaluate a city’s capacity to pay debt.
Each proposal in the referendum will pass if it receives a majority of “yes” votes.
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Michael Austin is a Trinity junior and managing editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.