HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 03-16-2004-5dORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: March 16, 2004
Action Agenda
Item No. A
SUBJECT: Resolution on the Future of the Dix Hospital Campus
DEPARTMENT: Commission
PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
Chair Barry Jacobs
Proposed Resolution Commissioner Steve Halkiotis
Gwen Harvey, Assist. Cty. Manager, ext. 2300
TELEPHONE NUMBERS:
Hillsborough 732-8181
Chapel Hill 968-4501
Durham 688-7331
Mebane 336-227-2031
PURPOSE: To adopt a resolution regarding the disposition of the 425-acre Dix Hospital
campus
BACKGROUND: In 2002, the State Secretary of Health and Human Services proposed
replacing the Dix Hospital in Raleigh and John Umstead Hospital in Butner with a new
psychiatric hospital in Butner. Last summer, legislators approved a $110 million hospital to
open in 2007. With the Dix closing, a House interim committee has been convened to study
what will become of this valuable parcel of land that overlooks the Capital's downtown, and if
sold, what will become of the proceeds.
The Legislative Issues Task Force (LITF), including Chair Barry Jacobs and Commissioner
Steve Halkiotis, in preparation for the BOCC breakfast meeting with its local legislative
delegation on March 29, has met and considered some of the current discussion surrounding
the Dix property disposition. The attached resolution has been drafted by LITF staff in
conjunction with Chair Jacobs. The resolution calls for the State to reserve a portion of the Dix
property for public open space and the remainder for suitable urban redevelopment with
revenues from the sale or lease to be reserved for reinvestment in community-based programs
that serve the needs of the mentally ill and their families throughout the state.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: None
RECOMMENDATION(S): The County Manager recommends that the Board of County
Commissioners consider adoption of the proposed resolution.
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
A RESOLUTION REGARDING
THE FUTURE OF THE DIX HOSPITAL, CAMPUS
WHEREAS, Dorothea Lynde Dix was a social reformer, journalist, and skilled lobbyist
who as a young woman wrote, "In a world where there is so much to be done, I felt
strongly impressed that there must be something for me to do", and who during the
middle 1800s woke America's conscience to the plight of the mentally ill; and
WHEREAS, in the autumn of 1848 Dorothea Lynde Dix came to North Carolina and
toured 36 counties to conduct a census of the mentally ill in jails, poorhouses, and private
homes; and
WHEREAS, in a "memorial" submitted to the North Carolina legislature, she emphasized
the need to remove the insane from jails and recommended modem approaches to the
treatment of the mentally ill along with specifics of needed buildings and equipment; and
WHEREAS, through the persistent effort of Dorothea Lynde Dix and the personal appeal
of James C. Dobbin, an influential legislator from Fayetteville, the legislature was
persuaded to adopt in December of 1948 an act that provided for an appropriation and the
appointment of six commissioners to select a site and oversee the erection of a hospital
that would eventually be named in Dix's honor; and
WHEREAS, on February 22, 1856, the first person was admitted, suffering from
"suicidal mania" and in the first nine months was joined by 51 males and 39 females; and
WHEREAS, over the intervening century and a half, thousands of North Carolinians and
their families have been served by Dorothea Dix Hospital; and
WHEREAS, today the Dorothea Dix Hospital is situated on a beautiful 425 acre tract of
land, accentuated by oak and pecan trees, on the south side of Raleigh with a
commanding view of the city skyline, making it the largest tract of undeveloped land near
downtown Raleigh with an estimated worth in the millions; and
WHEREAS, the disposition of this historic property - perhaps the only tangible
collective asset of persons with mental health, substance abuse, and developmental
disabilities in North Carolina - is the current subject of much debate and discussion as
the State moves to close the facility in 2007; and
WHEREAS, a special commission has been established to make recommendations to the
legislature, drawing upon views and opinions from individuals and organizations as
diverse as mental health advocates and professionals, neighborhood activists, government
administrators, park designers, and state historians;
NOW THEREFORE THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS calls
upon the Dix property special commission to be as visionary as Dorothea Lynde Dix and
consider supporting an approach that honors the past and inspires the future by reserving
an appreciable amount of acreage on the Dix campus for public open space, with the
remaining portion of the property to be leased or sold for complementary urban
development, with all monies received dedicated to and reinvested in innovative
programs and projects that benefit the mentally ill throughout North Carolina..
Adopted this the 16"' day of March, 2004.
Barry .Jacobs, Chair
Orange County Board of Commissioners