Community Invited to Provide Input on 251 South Street Property:
Open Town Hall Survey and February 27 Public Input Meeting

The Town of Davidson’s South Street Steering Committee invites community members to learn about and provide input on public/community uses for the Davidson School building (former Davidson IB School and former Lake Norman Christian School), located at 251 South Street. The Town of Davidson purchased the property at 251 South Street from the Charlotte Mecklenburg School system in December 2018.
 
The Davidson School building is intended for use as the new town hall. The building contains three distinct spaces -- classrooms & offices, a large open room (formerly the cafeteria), and a historic auditorium -- each of which can be put to a variety of uses. During Phase I of the steering committee’s work, they seek your input regarding how these spaces can be used in a way that maximizes the building’s value to the community.
 
How to share your input:

1. Attend the public input session on Wednesday, February 27

            6:00 – 6:45 p.m.: Walk-through at school building at 251 South Street
            7:00 p.m.: Public meeting at Davidson Town Hall

• Presentation by Stewart Gray (Davidson resident and Charlotte Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission Senior Preservation Planner)
• Update by South Street Steering Committee Chairs Elizabeth Martin and Matt Churchill
• Q&A period

This meeting will be live streamed and recorded and posted to www.townofdavidson.org/PublicFacilities.
 

1. Complete the survey on the Open Town Hall portal: https://www.opentownhall.com/7213

 
Residents can join the discussion by logging in with an email address. After receiving an activation email from platform developer Open Gov, citizens can choose whether to give their feedback anonymously or with their full names posted. The survey deadline is Friday, March 1.
 
If you are unable to attend the public input session or complete the Open Town Hall survey, please email your thoughts to PublicFacilities@townofdavidson.org.
 
“In addition to space for the governing board, town staff, and parks & recreation programming, the steering committee is working to determine which activities and programs should be located in the building – input from the community is vital,” said South Street Steering Committee Co-Chair Elizabeth Martin. “The gymnasium and the rest of the property will be examined later this year in Phase II.”
 
 
Background
As Davidson’s population has grown from 4,000 in 1990 to almost 13,000 today, we have outgrown our existing town hall. Ensuring adequate space for all departments, board of commissioners' meetings, and community meeting space is particularly critical. We need to invest in our public facilities in order to keep pace with our service needs. In December 2018, the Town of Davidson purchased the property at 251 South Street, consisting of a school building, gymnasium, parking lot, fields, and green space. The Davidson School building will be used for town hall and other community uses. The current town hall located at 216 S. Main Street will be renovated for the police and fire departments.
For more information, we encourage you to visit www.townofdavidson.org/PublicFacilities.  If you have questions or comments, please email us at PublicFacilities@townofdavidson.org.