The Olde Asheboro Neighborhood Association wants to use $40 million in federal stimulus funds to build a hotel on the the corner of South Elm and Lee Streets that they would own and operate.
Here’s the money quote:
“B” Akins, president of the Ole Asheboro Neighborhood Association, said the project would generate an immeasurable wealth of pride.
“We’re teaching our young folk that Greensboro is the gateway to the future,” Akins said. “That’s what we tell them everyday, but then when you look at our community, you tell a different story.”
Akins knows that the site could be developed by a brand-name hotel, but the profits would go to that company, not into the hands of Ole Asheboro residents who would manage the hotel.
She and her colleagues have been working on the proposal for months, presenting it to the commission for the first time Thursday. They will meet with the commission to see the project through.
“They’re about the dollars,” she said. “We’re about the dollars, but we’re also about empowering our community.”
The redevelopment commission will meet in the next two weeks to discuss the project again.
I have no doubt the residents of Ole Asheboro are well-meaning people, but this has red flags all over it.
