Dix’s purpose

Rick Martinez’s column is usually too far right for me, but I caught the “An arena, not Dix, as destination” headline in the Jan. 3 edition and agreed with him about the notion that developing Dix into a New York City-like Central Park is more a nostalgic look backward than a visionary look forward.

Is it not even more visionary to offer bright, new and appropriate services right there in Dix Park for the mentally ill? Is shuffling these folks off to Butner or to the streets, hospitals and jails preferable to building housing right there on the Dorothea Dix property as was originally intended? Would it not prove that North Carolina respects and cares for our mentally ill residents to share these beautiful environs with the original beneficiaries?

Karen Wiebe

Raleigh