r/bullcity • u/NCandBeyond • 1d ago
Any intel on the future of old Army Reserve bldg on Lakewood? Haven’t seen an update since 2019.
https://indyweek.com/news/durham/casa-gets-approval-to-turn-durham-army-reserve-center-into-a/
Anybody know what’s going on here? Bums me out to see it sit fenced off every time I drive by. Love the original plan, but if it ain’t happening, let’s raze it and make some more green space at least.
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u/StienStein RecklessRoxboro 1d ago
I don't know what happened to that plan, but it's still owned by the federal government and that means we still aren't getting any tax revenue. Also feel like nothing good will happen for the next 3+ years with how things are going...
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u/NCandBeyond 1d ago
Interesting- if it’s still federal land, why was the city involved in the redevelopment plan?
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u/VanillaBabies 1d ago edited 1d ago
The federal government was donating the land as part of the redevelopment.
In December 2017, the site was declared surplus property, making it subject to the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which prioritizes uses of surplus federal property that would serve homeless populations. Six nonprofit organizations applied to develop affordable housing complexes, and CASA was selected by the U.S. General Services Administration
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u/StienStein RecklessRoxboro 1d ago
In addition to what u/VanillaBabies posted, I think the feds have to follow local zoning. Since building housing in this case required a rezoning, the city would be involved in approving that regardless. I'm not 100% on that, but for sure once it passed to Casa (or whoever else) it would need different zoning. More interesting is the conditions attached to the rezoning and whether those continue through the UDO rewrite and rezoning.
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u/charliereece 12h ago
Update: I haven’t heard back from the folks at CASA but IIRC after the rezoning an old incinerator was discovered at the site. Since it’s still federal property, the federal government is responsible for cleanup and for whatever reason that hasn’t happened yet.
I think that’s what’s going on but again that’s just based on my recollection of what went on after the rezoning. I’ll update y’all here if I learn more. 👍🏻
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u/nimitz55 1d ago
Pretty sure it's a superfund site.
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u/NCandBeyond 1d ago
Not on the epa’s superfund site
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u/VanillaBabies 1d ago
It’s in your linked article
n addition to the traffic concern, the City Council addressed environmental concerns. As previously reported by the INDY, the former armory has been listed as a hazardous materials site and once housed an incinerator. Brandes acknowledged that the old structures contain asbestos and lead, but added that CASA will demolish them and take proper protocol.
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u/Rock_man_bears_fan 22h ago
A superfund site is a specific designation a site can be given by the EPA. There being hazardous materials there doesn’t inherently make it a superfund
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u/bbbh1409 21h ago
It is being included in the Small Area Planfor the Lakewood, West End, & Lyon Park project. Lyon Park, which sits just downhill of this armory spot, remains closed due to lead contamination and Parks & Rec continue to work with the state on remediation (no known date for re-opening). Even this plan coming together won't necessarily move the needle to fix the contamination at the Reserve base or Lyon Park.