Council OKs 36,000 dollar bill for Paramount architect
By Matt Shaw
Published in News on July 6, 2005 1:45 PM
The Goldsboro City Council voted Tuesday night to pay a Raleigh architectural firm nearly $36,000 for preliminary work on the new Paramount Theater.
Also at its regular meeting, the council approved an expansion for the Target store on Berkeley Boulevard, gave two properties to Habitat for Humanity for home construction, and approved several zoning requests.
Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee, of Raleigh, has been working with the Paramount Theater Reconstruction Committee for about a month, but the City Council had not approved any payment before Tuesday night.
The city will now pay $35,900 to the architects for the pre-design phase. The firm has already begun interviews with local arts groups that used the theater to determine how much space and what equipment they would need in a new venue. It is also working with the committee to determine a budget.
By September, Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee will make recommendation on the size and scope of the project -- for example, how many seats the theater should have.
The City Council will have to approve a separate contract for the building design.
City officials did not discuss the contract at length during the meeting, but during a briefing, City Manager Joe Huffman said that he had investigated Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee's work on a theater project in Rocky Mount and heard only positive comments from city officials there.
Target expanding
The City Council approved an expansion of Target that will add nearly 18,000 square feet to the store on Berkeley Boulevard.
The building would be expanded to the southwest, eliminating a parking area that's to the left of the front of the store. Now 87,500 square feet, the building will be 105,500 square feet after the addition, with most of the new space being in retail.
Target will also be renovating the front facade of the building and adding new landscaping, including more than 60 trees.
No timetable was given for the work.
Habitat lots
The city plans to give two properties to Habitat for Humanity of Goldsboro-Wayne Inc. to use for homes for low-income families.
The council authorized the donation of 807 S. Slocumb St. and 717 National Drive. Technically, Habitat for Humanity will buy the properties for $2,500 apiece, but that money will be returned to the agency after the houses are built and delivered to the families.
The Slocumb Street property is large enough that it could be divided into two lots, one of which would front on Olivia Lane. Wayne County is a partial owner so the commissioners will also have to agree to the donation.
Goldsboro owns other properties that would be suitable for Habitat houses, but many have potential buyers, Planning Director Randy Guthrie said. Councilmen have said recently that they would prefer to sell city-owned residential lots when possible.
Other business
Also Tuesday, the City Council rezoned 18 acres between Wendell Street and Lockhaven Drive, off Wayne Memorial Drive, for offices or institutional uses. Multi-family housing is also possible. The developer, CCP of Goldsboro, LLC, has not filed specific plans.
The council approved landscaping plans for Pediatric Play Therapy's office on the south side of Tommy's Road, between Hare Road and Green Circle.
Faith Alliance Church received permission for a 9,600-square-foot building on its property on Cashwell Drive. It will include classrooms and a fellowship hall.
The council also approved plans for the new Chick-Fil-A restaurant that will be built at Berkeley Commons shopping center.
The city had been scheduled to consider a 300-foot communications tower near the old Wayne Community College campus, but council members asked to delay the decision for two weeks to allow them to get more information from Wayne County Emergency Services.