Notes on the Ellington

(Or Why I Said Yes to the Ellington)

•  Who is doing it

The Grove Park Inn has 100 years doing business in this community, GPI is associated with three landmark building (GPI, Grove Arcade, and Battery Park Hotel), the number one reason people stay in the Grove Park Inn is the fact that downtown has become a destination just like the Parkway and the Biltmore House. The GPI has a personal financial stake because the future of the hotel tied to the success of downtown.   They are safe to work with because they are invested in this community.

•  What's being done

The Ellington is a tall infill development which does not displace a single, solitary existing business; on the contrary it will work to augment them.   Demand is a constant and it works relentlessly whether you see it or not.   If we put a limit on the height of infill development, we hasten the destruction of out historic properties and thus the displacement on local businesses. This is because we will force demand into shorter building that will have to grow out to meet the demand. Tall building reduce the pressure to the demolish of downtown structures.

•  When it's is being done

Downtown is in a transition from revitalizing old structures to receiving new ones.   We need good examples of what we do want to receive and what we are for in the downtown community.   The Ellington does that.

•  Where it's being done

This community and our Council regularly assert the desirability of growing in and up to combat urban sprawl and promote public transportation.   If we cannot build a tall building downtown, where exactly can we build it?   We are either committed to the principle of encouraging height and density as a way to help our environment or we're not.

•  Why do it

•  It makes our downtown, local businesses richer and stronger.

•  It supports downtown as the center of arts and culture in the region.

•  It provides the tax revenue necessary to further our City and Community goals

•  It   provides 100 good middle class and lower middle class jobs

•  It supports affordable housing within one half mile of the city center for our children and grandchildren and their children.

•  It improves our skyline by drawing attention away from the BB&T Building to one that is much more architecturally interesting, particularly at night.

•  How this was done.

These businessmen have come into our downtown community and asked us what we thought about this project.   They consulted with us.   They listened to us and we listened to them.   Based on my conversations with my neighbors in our community; most of the downtown sees far more benefit from building this hotel than harm.   What has shocked me in this process is how virtually no one opposed to this project has asked those of us who have built this precious downtown what we think about this project.   Those opposed have been very ready to tell us what was wrong but none have bothered to ask why we think it might right.   

Conclusion

Why did I choose to speak out for such a controversial project in the middle of an election campaign?   William Jennings Bryan once said, "Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice".   I am speaking out for two reasons.

A.   Those of us who built downtown were bold and determined our future by embracing our destiny creatively and constructively.   Let us continue to do that.   Listen carefully to those of us invested in this renaissance and let us continue to be bold.   The future of the downtown I love depends on us being able to look beyond the surface of things and make good choices no matter what the mood of the day.

B.   There is a flood of interest in our Downtown and our region.   No matter who sits on this council in the coming years, we need to arm them with this thought, when a developer asks "How was the Ellington built?"   Council can say, "A local company in concert with the community built the Ellington without displacing a single, local business, while working to enrich our downtown, economically, culturally, socially and, in the process, helped to provide jobs and housing far past the lifetimes of those of us in this room.   How are you, as a newcomer to our city, going to match that?"   Approving this project will be setting that will be that kind of example. I cannot think of a better precedent or a better way to protect, preserve, promote and enhance what we have built in downtown.

I want to thank-you for taking time to read and understand my reasoning and thoughts.

 

Dwight.