Three projects get OK for next steps from city
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on August 5, 2009 1:46 PM
Members of the Goldsboro City Council took the next step on several local projects at their Monday meeting.
They officially hired architect David Gall to work on historic Union Station, held a public hearing regarding the new Cherry Hospital and heard about progress being made on a proposed dog park at Stoney Creek Park.
Gall addressed the board at a pre-meeting work session after Downtown Goldsboro Development Corp. executive director Julie Thompson explained the first phase of the Union Station project he would complete. The schematic design, Mrs. Thompson said, would encompass roughly 30 percent of the design work that needs to be done -- including exterior and interior work on the building and the site -- and cost $197,385.55, 10 percent of which must be matched by the city.
"We're very excited about starting here," Gall said. "I think we're prepared to move forward quickly."
The first phase, he added, will take between three and four months to complete.
Craig Newton, senior project engineer for the North Carolina Department of Transportation Rail Division, was also on hand to see the contract signed by Mayor Al King.
"It's been a long process ... to go through the selection of what was originally 43 submittals," Newton said of choosing an architect. "We're really excited about working with him and the city on this."
King said he, too, was encouraged by the progress being made at the station he used to visit as a young boy.
"I think the city is very blessed to have people like all of you," he said. "It's an outstanding project."
But Union Station was not the only project being discussed Monday. Interim Parks and Recreation director Gail Charles showed the council a list of rules that would help control the activity at the proposed dog park section of Stoney Creek Park.
And a public hearing was held -- no one spoke -- regarding the contiguous annexation of the state-owned property on the north side of West Ash Street between U.S. 117 and the Little River, the future home of the new Cherry Hospital.
The annexation process is voluntary -- property owners signed a petition requesting it -- and represents the next step toward construction, officials said, as the annexation would allow the site to be hooked up to water and sewer lines.