This park plan rendering was created by the Friends of Dorthea Dix.<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\nCooper also spoke to economic development that may occur surrounding the property. Open space improves quality of life, he said, and jobs and growth tend to follow.<\/p>\n
Some opposed to the measure pointed to the closure of the hospital as the primary reason to resist the lease. Activist and former Dix Hospital employee Hope Turlington passed out copies of an email she sent to state legislators and elected officials urging them not to vote on the lease.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur Council of State cannot make an honorable vote to do away with Dix when so many are in need of her help and services at this most critical time of crisis,\u201d Turlington wrote in the email.<\/p>\n
However, the hospital officially moved its last patients out in August of this year. Those patients and remaining staff found services at Central Regional Hospital in Butner.<\/p>\n
Secretary of State Elaine Marshall said that while the plan was not perfect, that perhaps it was good enough for a vote in the affirmative.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe sometimes the search for perfection can paralyze us,\u201d she said. \u201cThis plan of a long-term lease to the city for a reasonable market value is appropriate. I hope that the General Assembly will consider that the funds generated by this will go toward mental health care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lease Value Alarm<\/strong>
\nCommissioner Berry expressed concern that the lease agreement was not, in fact, a fair market value assessment of the property.<\/p>\n\u201cI believe that this is a raw deal for North Carolina taxpayers all over the state,\u201d she said. \u201cFor that reason, at this time \u2026 I\u2019ll be voting no.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berry also questioned the Council\u2019s right to amend the lease for The Healing Place of Wake County, a substance abuse shelter on the Dix Campus. Lt. Governor Walter Dalton replied that the lease agreement from the state to the city for the property did allow subleases and that The Healing Place\u2019s lease could be amended. Commissioner Berry also voted against amending the lease.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nFast Facts about Dix<\/strong><\/center><\/p>\nThe hospital opened in 1856 and closed 156 years later. <\/p>\n
Patients attempting to check in at other state mental hospitals face waits of several days.<\/p>\n
Part of the deal struck to close Dix stipulated that UNC Health Care and WakeMed create a 28-bed inpatient facility in Wake County. The development will cost $30 million to start and $10 million during the next five years.<\/p>\n
Dix was originally slated to close in 2008, but concerns over safety issues at Central Regional Hospital in Butner and abuse concerns at Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro facility forced Dix\u2019s doors to stay open.<\/p>\n
The final closure comes after several years of waffling on how the campus would be used. As recently as 2009, the Department of Health and Human Services was calling to have Dix remain open as a stand-alone psychiatric hospital.<\/p>\n
Most patient services were relocated to Central Regional Hospital in Butner and Cherry Hospital in Goldsboro.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Perdue\u2019s Legacy<\/strong>
\nSome legislators, especially State House Speaker Thom Tillis and State Senate leader Phil Berger, have been vocal about not leasing the property and instead having an outright sale to a private developer.<\/p>\nGovernor-elect Pat McCrory said recently it would be best to wait on a decision until the new administration takes over in January. But Perdue says the decision comes after years of deliberation and thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver and over, from CEOs and from regular people moving in to North Carolina, you hear about the values of the people of North Carolina and the things that we have held sacrosanct,\u201d Perdue said. \u201cOne of the things I heard over and over as I began my time of public service was the goal that we should all have to preserve green space and clean air and clean water.\u201d<\/p>\n
Preservation, she said, not only is important for conservation efforts, but also for economic development and quality of life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the right thing to do, from my perspective,\u201d Perdue said. \u201cAnd I thank all of you for allowing this opportunity to take a really important vote not just for Raleigh, but for North Carolina.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a vote that broke down along party lines, the North Carolina Council of State, led by Gov. Bev Perdue, voted to lease the Dorothea Dix Hospital property to the City of Raleigh. The hospital, which was closed in August, was the first psychiatric facility in the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24056,"featured_media":16673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,23],"tags":[693],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16625"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24056"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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