Old Concord Road best school site
The media has been full of corporate bankers taking money with one hand from taxpayers and with the other hand doing as they pleased. Not being accountable for the money given, not doing the most effective or efficient thing. Now, Rowan County Board of Education, are you better than these bankers? Will you do the most effective thing? Will you be responsible to the taxpayers? Will you truly build a “central” office? Is the goal to consolidate operations, to do this in the most effective manner, to serve the taxpayer in a efficient manner while still planning for the future?
I personally think placing the new “central” office on Old Concord Road is the way to go. You have plenty of room already paid for. You have parking. You have room for expansion. You have room for a maintenance department in the future. You are close to RCCC. You are in a good location to be accessed by citizens.
You will design a new building. You will not have to settle or redo a space. You will put your stamp on the final product.
The money and the vote are yours. The taxpayers are watching. Will you do what is right, or like some bankers, will you do as you please?
ó Leda Belk
Salisbury
Downtown location offers most benefitsI was pleased to read that the school board favors the downtown location. It is important that board members view the new central office as a stimulus package for our local economy. The downtown location would be centrally located for most workers; it would create less traffic congestion (there are multiple ways to access from all directions); and it would support growth in the central business district that already has bus service, restaurants, coffee shops, etc. within walking distance.
This is the best possible location for the central office. It would help create more customers for all downtown businesses and make investing in downtown businesses more plausible, thus benefiting more citizens.
Locating on Old Concord Road would hasten the need to widen the road and create traffic snarls as workers arrive, leave for lunch and go home, with everyone having to drive to and from work.
The old Winn-Dixie building is only slightly better; there is still the problem of traffic (that area is already one of the most congested in Rowan County).
The downtown location might demand more imagination and possibly more money; however, the benefits far outweigh the cost. It is time that we prioritize a vibrant downtown where people work, shop, eat and live. Money invested in the downtown will stimulate more private investment than any other location being considered, thus more tax dollars generated.
Please keep the downtown location your priority. The workers and people using the offices will pay for years to come for the mistake of placing it elsewhere. The ripple benefit of investing in the downtown will be felt for many years to come, unlike the others. This investment will create ongoing jobs, improve downtown neighborhoods and spur further investment ń that is a stimulus package we really need.
ó Ken Weaver
Salisbury