Three homes, and family of refugees, gone for Raleigh church parking
Three historic houses behind Hayes Barton Baptist Church are being demolished this week as part of a compromise with neighbors, but come remain bitter that the plan has displaced families of refugees or the sake of parking.
Early this week, crews began knocking down three Craftsman-style bungalows on White Oak Road, which are nearly a century old and part of the Bloomsbury district listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Before the 2019 compromise with neighbors and preservationists, the church planned to take six houses it had strategically bought over several years, stating its need for parking, access for the disabled and easier drop-off and pickup at its preschool.
The remaining three homes, further down White Oak, were to be converted for affordable housing.
But as the bungalows nearest Hayes Barton Baptist came down this week, neighbors made it clear that their bitterness hasn’t subsided. Refugees from Afghanistan and the Congo had been living there, and the Congolese family is now housed inside a Durham hotel, waiting for something more stable.
To residents nearby, the demolition brought a visceral disappointment, especially considering the children. A kids’ Huffy bike and a baby stroller sat piled in the wreckage Wednesday.
“It made my whole day kind of cloudy,” said Bob Crone from across the street. “Think of the Hell these children have been through. The irony here is they’re being displaced by a church. I know this is America, this is capitalism. I’m a big boy and I get all that. But the other side is being sensitive, which I thought a church was supposed to be.”
Meanwhile, Rev. Kristen Muse said Wednesday that the demolition was long-planned and in line with the 2019 memorandum of understanding, and that even the refugees living in those houses knew the situation would be temporary.
Hayes Barton works with Welcome House, a Raleigh temporary housing ministry from immigrants and refugees, she said, and its White Oak bungalows had sheltered families from Afghanistan, Syria and the Congo.
The Afghan family has found permanent housing since leaving Five Points, Muse said, and though the Congolese family is in a Durham hotel, the church “waiting to the very last minute.”
“Our congregation still supports that family,” she said. “We’re taking their children to swim class and taking them meals.”
The three remaining homes slated for affordable housing are occupied by renters, she said, but the church is moving ahead with that part of the compromise.
But neighbors, some of whom participated in negotiations and could not speak on-the-record, only felt loss.
“We’re in the middle of a housing crisis in Raleigh,” Crone said. “To knock down three perfectly good houses for parking spots ... They won. Congratulations. They get more (darned) asphalt.”