When I heard Chancellor Folt blithely announce the plans to spend $5.3 million to build a home for a Confederate monument that glorifies the South’s willingness to go to war to preserve slavery, I wondered whether anyone had briefed her on the battle to build the Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black History and Culture. […]
All posts in category Museum
Learn the History
Posted by Nancy Oates on December 18, 2018
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2018/12/18/learn-the-history/
We need a hero
It looks like the UNC Board of Governors may be celebrating Black History Month by closing down UNC’s Center for Poverty, Work and Opportunity. The 27% of blacks in North Carolina who live below the poverty line is more than twice the 12% of poverty-stricken whites in our state, which makes the timing of the […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 23, 2015
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/02/23/we-need-a-hero/
Money talks
Council sank to a new low Wednesday night in its decision to sell 523 E. Franklin St. to the UNC College of Arts & Sciences Foundation, not because of who council sold it to but why. The foundation’s bid was the lowest and the only one of the three bids that would keep the property […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on July 7, 2014
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/07/07/money-talks/
Breaking inauspicious
You know how you approached the start of every episode of “Breaking Bad” with the feeling that something was going to happen that you didn’t want to know about, but you watched it anyway? I get that feeling lately when I turn on the TV to watch a Town Council meeting. “Breaking Bad,” said to […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 16, 2014
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/06/16/breaking-inauspicious/
Windfall
I’ve read about people who come into money and then the trouble starts. Town Council showed a hint of that at Monday night’s meeting when they began talking about how to spend the money from the sale of “two-thirds” bonds. These bonds don’t need voters’ approval, but council does have to approve the sale. The […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 19, 2012
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2012/04/19/windfall/
Last call at 523
If you want to have your wedding at the former Chapel Hill Museum building, you’ve got until June 30. Come July 1, the town will close the above-ground portion of 523 E. Franklin St. An engineering report convinced town manager Roger Stancil to close the street-level section of the building rather than find money for […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 16, 2011
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2011/06/16/last-call-at-523/
Pound foolish
If only Traci Davenport, executive director of the Chapel Hill Museum, had asked for $16 million instead of $49,000, the Town Council might have approved her funding request. Instead of asking for $34,250 for additional operating expenses plus an extra $15,000 to take care of some maintenance projects that had been deferred, perhaps Davenport should […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on June 21, 2010
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2010/06/21/pound-foolish/
A small request
Chapel Hill Museum director Traci Davenport learned the timing perils of giving a presentation while a slide show flashes photos in the background. Davenport was making a serious pitch to Town Council about renegotiating the terms of the museum’s lease to cover $34,000 annually in utilities and maintenance costs, as well as an additional $15,000 […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on April 16, 2010
https://chapelhillwatch.com/2010/04/16/a-small-request/