NCCU plan to raze house stirs a furor

N.C. says Rivera home is historic

DURHAM -- In April, the state of North Carolina declared that a 96-year-old house at Fayetteville and Lawson streets had "statewide historic significance."

Now, N.C. Central University is going to see about tearing it down.

NCCU has asked Durham's Historic Preservation Commission for a "certificate of appropriateness" to demolish the house. On Tuesday, the commission is to hear the case, which has put the university into an emotionally charged confrontation with neighbors and preservation interests.

The house, at 1712 Fayetteville St., has historic significance because it was home to the late Alex Rivera, NCCU publicist and an acclaimed photojournalist of the civil-rights movement.

According to a statement released Friday by Denise Hester of the Fayetteville Street Planning Group, the demolition request "stands in direct opposition to the community's desire that its local historic district ... become an economic catalyst for national historic tourism."

Rivera, who died Oct. 23 at the age of 95, sold the house to the university after retiring in 1997. The house has fallen into disrepair, and NCCU plans to use the property for campus expansion.

Its plans, though, have provoked opposition from residents, who have claimed expansion would displace more than 2,500 residents of several neighborhoods. Carolyn Green Boone, a Fayetteville Street resident and a great-granddaughter of NCCU founder James Shepard, has been one of the most outspoken opponents.