The N&R editorializes on GTCC’s proposed airport campus:
A proposed new GTCC campus near Piedmont Triad International Airport would represent a win-win proposition for the entire Triad. With job growth expected to cluster around PTI for years to come, it makes good sense to train workers close by.
School officials this week asked the Greensboro planning board to rezone 97 acres two miles from the airport that they intend to buy. Hurdles remain, but the undeveloped farmland looks like the ideal location for the next phase in the community college’s expansion plans.
….The plan calls for spending $19 million from a 2004 bond package to buy the land and pay for the first building. GTCC will seek another $46 million in a May 2008 bond referendum. In the past, county voters have strongly supported GTCC bonds.
….Equally important, the Triad must be able to market a skilled workforce if we’re to prosper as an aviation and transportation center. GTCC will be the primary provider for much of that training. Laying the groundwork now ensures a steady supply for the future.
A GTCC campus near the airport will benefit job seekers, industry and the community.
That’s all true. And, in fairness, yesterday’s N&R article did include this quote from a nearby resident:
The development plans have some neighbors concerned, including Barbara Sumner, who attended the planning board hearing.
She voiced her concerns about the loss of open space in Guilford County.
Her backyard will overlook the new campus.
“We are absolutely devastated by the changes to our neighborhood that seem inevitable,” she said.
Yet why do I have the feeling that if a private developer wanted to develop that land, the project would be met with skepticism and sadness for the diminishing open space and farmland?
It’s called progress, people, and that means open space ceases to be open.
