Showing posts tagged “DDI”
Matt Saldaña ·
7 Apr 2009, 3:09 PM ·
2 Comments
Plans by Duke University to close off two public streets in order to accommodate a $50 million development project faced an icy reception among neighborhood groups and Durham officials at Monday night’s City Council meeting. Duke officials want to convert Maxwell Avenue and Sumter Street, near East Campus, into private parking lots restricted to students and faculty. And a site plan mock-up, which was presented for the first time on Monday, called for several “security gates” that would block public access to the streets and building.
“We believe this is a reaching out to that community,” said Duke Vice President for Campus Services Kemel Dawkins.
Dawkins argued that the project would bring 650 faculty and students “closer to Brightleaf,” and would encourage them to “mingle freely during the day.” However, from midnight until 6 a.m., a gate would prevent anyone from walking, or biking, through the area. And except for members of Duke, and neighbors who have applied for key cards, car traffic through the area would be closed 24 hours a day.
Duke “is perceived by citizens as a fortress, and we’re trying to get ride of that fortress mentality in the U.S.,” said Councilwoman Cora-Cole McFadden.
“Duke is as well,” Dawkins said, to snickers in the gallery.
Dawkins claimed that the streets were “mostly used by members of Duke,” and were “largely dirt and gravel roads” that would relieve the City of Durham from maintenance and utility work. However, several community members attested that they used the streets often–particularly in emergencies, and when trains block all other routes in the area.
“We live in a city, and that city needs to be meshed with Duke,” said Duke graduate student Richard Twigg, who was opposed to the street closing.
North Carolina General Statute 160A-299 requires that closing a street, or alley, is “not contrary to the public interest.”
When asked by council members if Duke would be willing to open the gates to vehicular traffic during the day, Dawkins said that would “compromise the safety of the parking lots.”
“I can’t buy that,” said Councilman Eugene Brown said. “This is not the way Duke has done business.” Continue reading »
Durham Alan DeLisle, Bill Kalkhof, Burt's Bees, DDI, Duke University, elections, John Schelp, Kemel Dawkins
Matt Saldaña ·
1 Apr 2009, 11:11 AM ·
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According to Endangered Durham:
Reportedly, the front of the DPAC will show ads for a variety of products, except on performance nights, when it will camouflage the front of the building with “an undiverse populace streaming in and out” to make visitors from Raleigh more comfortable in Durham. The board of Downtown Durham Disintegrated (DDD) were staunchly non-committal regarding the plan.
And, in other Durham news, the County will reportedly unveil a landmark deal next week with the RDU Airport Authority, in which the county agrees to dedicate a “large surface parking lot, extending from the Downtown Loop to the Durham County Line” that will serve as Park-n’-Ride Lot F.
E.D. reports:
Sources were less clear on what the airport planned to contribute, but, at the insistence of County Manager MR Pufnstuf appeared “nearly almost ready” to commit to, once a month, compelling flight attendants to say “Welcome to Durham” when a plane lands.
The rest of the no-holds-barred roundup–available on Gary Kueber’s award-winning, and typically more low-key blog about the parcel-by-parcel demolition of Durham’s history–is a must-see.
Durham, Durham County DDI, DPAC, Endangered Durham, Gary Kueber, RDU Airport
Matt Saldaña ·
28 Feb 2009, 6:56 PM ·
2 Comments
During a Thursday night interview with Kevin Davis (Bull City Rising) and Barry Ragin (Dependable Erection), on the local bloggers’ WXDU 88.7 FM show, “Shooting the Bull,” Downtown Durham, Inc. President Bill Kalkhof said that “at some point” he wants to run for Durham City Council. Kalkhof was on the show to discuss DDI’s opposition to the proposed citywide water quality regulations, which will come up for a vote Monday.
Kevin Davis: We see you standing up at the podium at City Council frequently, and talk of the town is, you might try the flip side of the railing. Any thoughts on that, on you mulling that over?
Bill Kalkhof: Talking about running for city council?
Kevin Davis: Exactly
Bill Kalkhof: It has always—first of all, I really love this city. It’s my adopted hometown. I love it. Two is, I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve been doing with the Home Builders [Association] and now with Downtown Durham, Inc. Yes, at some point I want to run for City Council. Will it be this year? I’ll make that decision by July when I have to.
Durham, environment, media Bill Kalkhof, Bull City Rising, DDI, Dependable Erection, Downtown Durham, Downtown Durham Inc, Durham City Council, jordan lake, Shooting the Bull, WXDU
Matt Saldaña ·
17 Feb 2009, 7:21 PM ·
1 Comment
Photo by DL Anderson
…and cats and dogs are living together. That’s Chapel Hill’s mayor, Kevin Foy, helping Durham mayor Bill Bell into a Tar Heels sweatshirt–the result of an elaborate bet on the UNC-Duke game last week.
“He regrets the outcome of the game; I was very happy with the outcome of the game,” Foy told attendees at last night’s City Council meeting in Durham–before dashing off to Chapel Hill’s Town Council meeting that same night.
The agreement called for the mayor of the losing team’s city to wear the opposite team’s swag at the next council meeting. In addition, Foy gets free passes to a Durham Performing Arts Center show.
“You’re serious about this?” Bell asked, as he grudgingly descended the City Hall ramp toward Foy, who was holding, apparently, the most flamboyant zip-up hoodie he could find.
(More on urban chickens, and a 25 square mile “donut hole” in Durham with no water-quality control restrictions, after the jump.)
Continue reading »
Durham, Durham County, Wake County, environment 751 Assemblage, Bill Kalkhof, DDI, Downtown Durham, Duke University, Durham City Council, jordan lake, Patrick Byker, UNC, urban chickens
Matt Saldaña ·
16 Feb 2009, 4:55 PM ·
2 Comments
Note: Updated, with response from DDI President Bill Kalkhof below.
Today, Kevin Davis, the Bull City Rising scribe, notes a peculiar make-over at the Downtown Durham, Inc. Web site. The non-profit booster organization, which receives roughly 60 percent of its funding from the City of Durham, now features on its Web site a giant electronic billboard, replete with alternating flash images, soaring over a skyline of the Bull City.
“Coincidence — or subtle marketing for the proposed changes allowing billboards in the Bull City?” Davis muses.
With questions swirling around a Georgia-based billboard company seeking to amend Durham’s Unified Development Ordinance to allow electronic billboards, it seems an unfortunate time for DDI to roll out the striking re-design.
In addition to donating to candidates for both City Council and the Durham County Board of Commissioners, Fairway Outdoor Advertising–which owns roughly half the billboards in Durham–has doled out free advertising space to Durham County and DDI. (Last month, DDI reached no consensus on a vote to endorse the amendment, and later wrote to Fairway explaining the vote.)
In a January 2009 interview with the Indy, Kalkhof insisted that there is “no quid pro quo” between Fairway and DDI, which credits itself with influencing downtown development policy in Durham. In that interview, Kalkhof noted that the relationship between his organization and Fairway began in 2007, when Fairway provided DDI with free advertising for Durham Rising, a June 2007 event promoting downtown development.
“This has nothing to do with the UDO,” Kalkhof said then. “It was an excellent marketing opportunity. That has been our relationship.”
However, in reporting on the DDI re-design, Davis received a response from Matthew Coppedge, director of marketing and communications for DDI, that seems to contradict Kalkhof’s timeline:
“This design was actually up long before Fairway was a partner with DDI and before we knew anything about the discussion with the billboards. We worked with Neural 9 Studios (located in downtown) on this beginning in August of 2007 with the concept coming from them at that time. We received our first prototype of the site on 9/28/2007 and thought it was a very cool design, allowing for the full downtown skyline view and the changing nighttime scene (check the site after sundown). Anyway, we launched the site in early 2008 after final design completion in November of 2007.”
Davis writes that this should put the issue to rest–and, indeed, sometimes a re-design is just a redesign–but there’s a missing link that Coppedge chose not to disclose. Neural 9 designed the Web site for Durham Rising, of which both DDI and Fairway were sponsors. (Full discolsure: so was the Indy.) And according to Kalkhof, DDI’s relationship with Fairway also began with Durham Rising, when Fairway provided DDI with free billboard space for the event. In other words, August 2007, the date Coppedge offers for DDI’s initial work with Neural 9, happened after DDI had partnered with Fairway–not, as Coppedge insists, “long before Fairway was a partner with DDI.”
UPDATE @ 6:00 p.m.: DDI President Kalkhof called the Indy back shortly after this blog was posted. Read his response, after the jump.
Continue reading »
Durham, Durham County Bill Kalkhof, DDI, Downtown Durham, Durham County Commissioners, electronic billboards, Fairway Outdoor Advertising
Lisa Sorg ·
16 Jan 2009, 8:19 AM ·
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The Indy learned earlier this morning that the DDI Board of Directors could not reach a consensus, which translates to taking no action, on the electronic billboard issue yesterday. The board held a meeting to vote on whether to endorse an amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance that would allow electronic billboards in Durham.
Check back later today for updates.
Durham, Durham County, business DDI, electronic billboards
Lisa Sorg ·
14 Jan 2009, 6:33 PM ·
2 Comments
A Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce memo chambermemo reveals that its Local Government Committee and Executive Committee “enthusiastically and unanimously” recommend that the Chamber board endorse an proposed amendment to Durham’s Unified Development Ordinance that would allow electronic billboards in the city and county.
The Downtown Durham, Inc. board is scheduled to vote on the proposed amendment tomorrow morning. DDI is not required to announce the results of the vote, but executive director Bill Kalkhof told the Indy earlier this week that he is considering it because of the public interest in the issue.
The amendment would have to jump through several governmental hoops in order to pass, including Durham County Commission and Durham City Council.
Durham, Durham County, business, politics DDI, electronic billboards, Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce
Lisa Sorg ·
12 Jan 2009, 6:20 PM ·
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Downtown Durham, Inc. Executive Director Bill Kalkhof called the Indy today to emphasize that there is “no quid pro quo” between the nonprofit group and billboard company Fairway. He added that the relationship between DDI, charged with boosting downtown interests, and Fairway, which has given DDI space on its billboards, predates the current dust up over a proposed amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) that would allow electronic billboards to be erected in Durham.
Kalkhof said DDI worked with Fairway ago for Durham Rising, a 2007 celebration of downtown’s renovated streetscape; DDI received free billboard space, but paid roughly $550 for the production of the message posted on the board.
“This has nothing to do with the UDO,” Kalkhof said. “It was an excellent marketing opportunity. That has been our relationship.” Continue reading »
Durham, Durham County, Uncategorized, business, politics Bill Kalkof, DDI, electronic billboards, Fairway
