Last week our summer intern Mariana Fabian wrote about a developer’s plans to redevelop Seaboard Station and to replace the historic train station with a 12-story parking deck to serve two 20-story towers on either side. The developer, Turnbridge Equities, has since updated its plans and says it hopes to preserve the station, but some residents are skeptical that the new conditions don’t go far enough to guarantee preservation alongside the new construction. We will have an update on the situation soon. Meanwhile, our readers had a lot of thoughts about Mariana’s story.
From reader Patty Moyer: “My heart broke to read this stupid move to lose another piece of Raleigh. My grandfather worked at that station until his retirement in the early 60’s. Visiting my grandparents in Raleigh is why I fell in love with this city. But now it is barely recognizable.”
From reader Judy Schneider: “Raleigh has already lost so many of the spaces that lend character to a city, small shops downtown replaced with generic multi-story buildings; locally-owned restaurants and sandwich shops, like Sadlack’s, gone, and we’re soon to lose the iconic Char Grill. The lovely Seaboard complex will turn into another congested lot of high-rises, because Raleigh’s mayor and city council have never met a development proposal they didn’t like. Developers (even local developers like Kane) will always default to maximizing profit over community, esthetic, and historic concerns.”
From reader Edith Dickinson: “Raleigh is quickly losing its Architectural Heritage by demolishing all our historical buildings/landmarks that give us (Raleigh) our special identity. It is absolutely a travesty. We must protect the historical parts of Raleigh (for instance Seaboard Station and Hayes Barton Community). This isn’t about build back better. This is about preserving our heritage!”
And from reader Andrea Azcárate: “Thank you so much for your story about Seaboard Station. Myself and lots of friends love having the nursery there. It has so much character! What or how can we help to save it? Maybe a follow up article with information regarding this would be helpful.”
The answer to Andrea’s question: write to the Raleigh City Council members and urge them to vote for Turnbridge Equities’ rezoning request on the condition that the company preserves the train station (or integrates it into its new design). This has been done in Raleigh before, to good effect: see the Dillon building in the Warehouse District.
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