Another hot site downtown
With all the recent activity at downtown's northwest edge, Buzz was wondering about another prime center-city property: the Duke Power site at East Friendly Avenue and North Church Street.
Last March, the incomparable Jim Schlosser wrote that the Weaver Foundation had reached a verbal agreement to buy the 5-acre tract.
President Skip Moore said the foundation was buying the land to remove it from the market and prevent it from being developed in a manner that wouldn't benefit downtown, a strategy called "land-banking." The foundation pledged to buy the land in support of Action Greensboro, the non-profit that's backed Center City Park and the new baseball stadium.
Reached on Tuesday, Moore said the sale hasn't been completed yet. The hold-up, he said, is related to the environmental issues that once plagued the site. Duke spent $3 million cleaning the area, and has declared it free of contamination.
"Were just finishing up the purchase and we don't have any plans for it right yet," Moore said.
The tract has been thought to be a decent location for an IMax theater or an Atlantic Coast Conference museum, though a proposal for an ACC museum near the Greensboro Coliseum was unveiled in January. A concert hall has also been mentioned.
On Tuesday, Moore offered nothing new, but said the foundation wanted any development to fit in with the rest of the area. Nearby structures include the Greensboro Children's Museum, the Greensboro Cultural Arts Center and the Greensboro Historical Museum.
Hmmmm.