Sunday Forum

Letters to the editor of the Editorial Page

Which treatment for the Dorothea Dix site?

Real patients

For 150 years Dorothea Dix Hospital has served our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who suffered with that sad collection of disorders we call mental illness. It was not a perfect place and few of us would want to spend time there, but the fundamental fact was that it was, in fact, there.

The patients went there depressed and suicidal, with schizophrenic hallucinations, bipolar disorder, alcohol- and drug-related disabilities and other assorted illnesses of the spirit that have names we seldom hear and prefer to ignore.

The many proposals for the transformation of the lovely Dix real estate have included just about everything under the sun but acknowledgment of the existence of the mentally ill. The Dix Memorial plan mentioned in your April 27 article may provide some small cause for hope that this is changing. It actually mentions building a mental health treatment center.

A memorial to the Unknown Mental Patient could even be built somewhere in a corner of the new world-class something or other, and I'm sure we'd all feel much better.

Kenneth Smith

Raleigh

Make the decision

Regarding the April 27 article "For Dix, future still in flux," the challenge is that all the plans look great! But anyone's opinion of a great idea is simply that, an opinion. I would caution against "pioneering" a great idea. Remember, the definition of a pioneer is "the guy with the arrows in his back."

Maybe the best idea is to build with vision on a great idea that was coupled with proven success in another city. The best projects seem to be reinventions of proven success. A key question then becomes "What project most closely resembles this opportunity in another city, and how can we build on that idea to far surpass the proven results?"

Once the theme or scope is defined, the best success may be achieved by selling the land to private developers, to capitalize on their experience. Covenants and conditional use, etc., may be a better way for the city to control and contribute to the design, rather than have the city as the forerunner.

A delayed decision is still a decision. The downtown resurgence has momentum. Let's not contribute to losing momentum by delaying a decision. A slightly better plan later is vastly offset by the need to contribute to the momentum we are achieving in Raleigh.

Jack Kimball

President, Kimball and Company

Raleigh

(Kimball and Company is a commercial real estate and business brokerage firm.)

Park it

At the April 26 meeting about the Dorothea Dix property, a member of the legislative commission studying the future of the site inquired about the value of the property. The commission agreed to look into it.

To date, the state has paid a Charlotte consulting firm, LandDesign, $350,000 to study the property and propose two development plans. Yet, commission members voted to ask for additional state funds for even more appraisals.

Almost a year ago, on July 26, 2005, LandDesign submitted a report by a licensed real estate appraiser. The land value ranges are from $38 million to $54 million for the two proposed development plans. That data is available if the commission needs it.

More importantly, why does the study commission continue to delay establishing a park district on the total 306 acres? As a former member of the board of the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, as well as a beneficiary of the wonderful St. Louis botanical gardens and Climatron, I cannot envision a better use for this unique property. And, nine out of 10 of the people I know want a park on the entire site, thereby preserving it for future generations.