To the editor:
The town of Greensboro is facing both an urgent need for moderately priced housing and a paucity of building sites. This has led to a proposal to transform the historic building now used as the town hall into 20 moderate income residences. Prominent concerns include the high number of units proposed, wastewater management, and parking. As I understand it, converting this building to housing would require expensive structural renovation and likely result in awkward apartments with inadequate windows. Moreover, while this building provides visual grounding at the head of the village green, it is really rather chunky and uninteresting to look at. Here’s an alternative: let’s tear it down and start over. A new building could be attractively designed, less expensive to build, and perhaps more readily meet the needs of future occupants. I’m imagining a wide horseshoe open to the green, no more than two floors in height, the courtyard filled with gardens, and parking behind. Could that or some other design be seen more readily as an asset?
That we desperately need housing is clear to all. Much of the opposition to the current proposal is not easily resolved. Can we think out of the box?
Mary White
Greensboro
Mary White
