Comments on: Bonner Gaylord and the “Skinny High-Rise”

By: Ernest

Ernest — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:09:52 +0000

Before some of you get too upset over this project, I recommend you read Bob Geary’s recent article in The Independent regarding the Clarence Lightner Public Safety Center. It is a very balanced presentation, IMO, although I find Bob’s opinion in conflict with mine 90% of the time. The title of the article is “Raleigh City Council fights over Lightner Public Safety Center”, if you want to look for it.

There are many great points that Bob touches here and he states facts that should be known to all before we get into any heated debates. The only thing I do not think is possible is to put a residential/hotel tower in that corner. I would still be disappointed if this building is not built, but maybe we can find an alternative location that will serve us better, or maybe fund this project in a “smarter” fashion.

By: Tommy One

Tommy One — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:19:15 +0000

I don’t know what sebagos are, and I don’t think anyone has worn duck heads since middle school, but I think Bonner is the best thing that has happened to Raleigh since the Beltline. It also should be pretty easy to find the people that voted for him since he received about 90% of them.

By: Tommy One

Tommy One — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:06:27 +0000

I don’t know what sebagos are, and I don’t think anyone has worn duckheads since middle school, but I think Bonner is the best thing that has happened to Raleigh since the Beltline. It also should be pretty easy to find the people that voted for him since he recieved about 90% of them.

By: boidair

boidair — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 05:40:59 +0000

i say build it. we will not have to chance to save as much in the future. we need to build for the future of the city. kind of like when shoe shopping for a baby, you buy them a size or 2 bigger so they have room to grow in them. if not, then you’ll be buy another pair soon cause they would have out grown them. the same goes for this building.

By: Banks Talley

Banks Talley — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:28:45 +0000

One of the big ironies here is that Bonner’s father Richard Gaylord is a builder (albeit residential. if memory serves).

The big issue for me (as a Raleigh native) is this: Raleigh is not the same. little town it once was; it is much bigger now and the population has grown immensely. The current Public Safety Center is out of date (not only is the building itself old but the equipment inside is old as well). We live in a great city (with low crime rates compared to many other places in the country) and that is partially because we have good Public Safety (good personnel, good response time and dedicated officers). Why would we not want to have the best and most current facilities for Public Safety? Good facilities=good employees=good morale=good service=safe population. It is a simple equation. As for computers, internet, phone systems, etc. can Bonner Gaylord and his other nay sayers really justify not upgrading the facilities for the 21st Century? We ARE 10 years into it, by the way. Yes, we do have to underwrite the building, but right now it seems that it will be more cost effective to build it. As for the “public art,” I have no problem with it as it will add to the image of the building. It makes no sense to keep building drab, boring public buildings when we could have architecturally dynamic ones (that also have some art in them and as a result some personality).

As for public transit, that is a separate issue and one that should’ve been addressed 25-30 years ago (see the METRO in DC, which was built in 1976 for the Bicentennial and has overwhelming ridership. I didn’t even use a car when I lived in DC……METRO every day).