Charlotte Approves Large Contribution To New Discovery Place Nature Facility
On Tuesday, there was a heated debate between Mecklenburg County commissioners about the funding for a new Discovery Place nature facility according to WCNC Charlotte.
The commissioners did agree that the nature center is of large educational value for people of all ages. However, they disagreed on the huge cost that the county would have to provide to create the nature facility.
This facility was first approved all the way back in 2017. It would act as an expansion and a redesign of the Discovery Place Nature museum that is currently operating in Freedom Park. In the end it would become an entirely new facility.
When the county first approved this project they only needed to give $16 million for the building. Over the past few years the money needed for the new nature facility has jumped up to $36 million. This price is after making cuts to the size of the building.
District 1 Commissioner Elaine Powell claims that the $20 million that the company asked the county for is “offensive” and that its an unfair use of tax payer money. He claims that that many other much needed projects have been downgraded due to a lack of funding to further his point.
“I am the Chair of environmental stewardship, I was Chair of the park commission, I don’t think you can find a person that cares more about environmental education than I do,” Powell stated. “But when it comes to county dollars and nonprofits, we cannot have champagne wishes and caviar dreams and $20 million extra rescue when $16 million was such a sacrifice.”
Many other commissioners had the same concerns as Powell when it came to such high costs. Eventually they decided on giving the nature center a $10 million contribution for construction.
The rest of the money for funding will be up to the county manager.
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A's
- Atrium Health Mercy (2001 Vail Ave, Charlotte)
- Atrium Health Cabarrus (920 Church St, Concord)
- Atrium Health Pineville (10628 Park Rd, Charlotte)
- Atrium Health Union (600 Hospital Dr, Monroe)
- Carolina’s Medical Center (1000 Blythe Boulevard, Charlotte)
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- Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center (10030 Gilead Rd, Huntersville)
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- Novant Health Rowan Medical Center (612 Mocksville Ave, Salisbury)
B's
- Atrium Health Stanley (301 Yadkin St, Albemarle)
- Atrium Health University City (8800 N. Tryon St, Charlotte)
- Iredell Memorial Hospital (557 Brookdale Dr, Statesville)
C's
- Atrium Health Cleveland (201 East Grover St, Shelby, NC)
- Lake Norman Regional Medical Center (171 Fairview Rd, Mooresville)
