The Atlantic recently told the story of Soul City, NC from the 1970’s. It was to be a rural planned city like Reston, Va and Columbia, Md, but after $millions of federal funds and a racial backlash, the project failed.
BUT:
There is currently a huge Wastewater Treatment System, being vastly underused, much lying still or perhaps never used. During my Environmental career, I often came across this resource mostly sitting idle, I envision this treatment plant being available for upgrades that could easily accommodate a relocated Central Prison. This could be an tremendous economic benefit to Warren County.
But, this relocation from glitzy Raleigh, could also be perceived as pawning off another prison to an impoverished predominantly African American community.
Still, this WWTP sits waiting for $$ to put it in operation for something.
From the Atlantic:
Visit soul city, north Carolina, today, and you won’t find much: an abandoned health-care clinic stripped by vandals; a pool and recreation center with a no trespassing sign; a 1970s subdivision with streets that are cracked and crumbling; and an industrial plant that has been converted into a prison. If not for the concrete monolith with the words soul city cast in red iron, you might not know this was supposed to be a city at all.
But that’s what the civil-rights leader Floyd McKissick hoped to create when he arrived here in 1969 with dreams of transforming an old slave plantation into a new city an hour north of Raleigh. The city would be dedicated to Black economic progress. It was projected that by the year 2000, it would boast 24,000 jobs and a population of 50,000. Soul City never came close to those projections. When development stopped 10 years later, there were just 135 jobs and 124 full-time residents. In the four decades since, Soul City has quietly faded into oblivion, becoming a modern-day ghost town. Most people, even in North Carolina, have never heard of it.
In the summer of 1972, after the Nixon administration awarded Soul City a $14 million loan guarantee (about $87 million today) to prepare the land for development, that dream appeared
It’s an open secret in California that shutting down and relocating San Quentin Prison is a total non-starter, despite the cold, decrepit facilities and stunning bayside location, because the big politically-connected law firms in the state want to have a short commute from SF, as opposed to moving their firms to the Central Valley or enduring long trips to visit their clients.
Is that a piece of what’s keeping the Central Prison in Raleigh? Obviously there’s sunk costs and the need to find a new location as well.
Hadn’t thought about that but that’s probably the reason. On the other end, this land is so valuable that they could probably nearly make up the cost of building a new one or relocating prisoners etc.
I listened to a podcast about Soul City that was super interesting. It’s a shame that things went down the way they did and that there is abandoned infrastructure there. In my mind, however, it seems that putting Central Prison at that location would be highly insensitive, but I’d be interested in how the local community there feels about it. Prisons do bring jobs, but the history of what Soul City was intended to be vis a vis the history of our criminal justice system (especially in the South) are pretty much at odds with each other. Not to mention that there’s already one correctional facility there.
The GA had no problem relocating the DMV, something that’s pretty central to everyone in the state, to Rocky Mount to “save money” and cash in on the valuable downtown property. I don’t know why they can’t do the same with Central Prison.
I was going to mention the lack of cul-de-sacs and the danger to young children of speeding cars zooming through these straight roads, but then I recalled something far worse.
I don’t know how many folks were executed at this site, but I certainly wouldn’t be moving in with out a full exorcism, at the very least. I’ve seen parts of Poltergeist!!
With the number of parks and open spaces, I’d hope most kids use those instead of the streets haha also cul-de-sacs take up so much space so it was something I tried to avoid in the name of density. We don’t find too many in the city. Also with every street being 1 lane with 4 way stops at each intersection and wide sidewalks things should keep calm.
As far as the last part…lol didn’t think too much about that
I love it! My only nitpick would be to put the cornerstores on the other side of the street as part of the row homes and not taking up space kiosk-style in the park. Great job!
That’s a great idea too. I like the feeling of activity parks have when they have some corner shops though. It would really depend on just how big the open space is.
Columbia, SC had a an old nasty prison right in downtoen by the river for a long time. It was closed in the mid-90s and eventually redeveloped into a mixed use riverfront district.
This site, the S. Saunders/Fuller Heights district, and the Lincoln Harris Centennial Campus development would be quite the trifecta of bookends for Dix Park.
And once you get rid of the barriers (natural and built), the prison site is surprisingly close to both Glenwood South and the Warehouse District.
I agree with you that, with the history of Soul City, relocating another prison there would be very insensitive. But, where? Probably would have to be in the Capital area. Where did SC relocate their prison? Perhaps a neighboring county to Wake - with reverse incentives.
I admittedly have no knowledge to the actual logistics of relocating a prison etc work but would it be possible to combine with the other prison on MLK? Or build new on the state / city owned land off of New Bern / New Hope?
Not exactly sure. Somewhere out in the country - not in the same county. It was a state prison. That place was built after the civil war and it looked every bit of 100+ years old when it was torn down. It was a major eyesore on prime real estate, right one of the main entries into downtown. You could see the prison yard from the road. Riding by that place when I was a kid, I was damn sure I would never end up in a hell hole like that.
It makes the central prison in Raleigh look like the Ritz Carlton.
Ah, but this is the “new Central”. The old stone, Victorian was scary as hell. I think there is some of the old stone walls still visible in a few places.
Heck I don’t think most people, who weren’t born here, realize that big beautiful park land around the NC Museum of Art previously was a youth prison. It does show the state of North Carolina CAN move a prison, but who knows if there’s the political will to do it again.
I have always thought that the best place for a new NCMA would have been the DIX property especially considering the modern meets rural-landscape look utilized.
Doesn’t make any sense why the prison needs to be so close to downtown. Move it out east where land is cheap and build something better off the proceeds from the land sale. Potential public private partnership.
