The Council is discussing the future of the former town hall property at 100 W. Rosemary St., and the Fire Station No. 4 property at 101 Weaver Diary Road. The Council decided the properties could be used more effectively.
Councilwoman Donna Bell said the former town hall housed the Inter-Faith Council for Social Services men’s shelter. Now that the council is building a new men’s shelter on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, the space is available for the first time in about 20 years.
“The entire council has voiced a desire to maintain that property,” Bell said. “But that’s not to say that there isn’t an amount of money that would make selling it worthwhile. It would have to be a fairly high amount, however.”
Bell said the council discussed placing a preservation marker on the property to ensure that the exterior of the old town hall is preserved, regardless of its future use.
Councilman Lee Storrow said the council is also considering partnering with local organizations to redevelop the town hall site in a way that complements the area.
“I think that property has a real historical significance for the town,” Storrow said. “I think what we really want to do is to find a way to make synergy possible between that area of town and the town hall site.”
There have been informal proposals to turn the property into a Chapel Hill visitor’s bureau, a town museum and an expanded business incubator.
Jason Damweber, assistant to the town manager, said the fire station was valued at $2.13 million in a 2012 appraisal. The Council will not know what the property is currently worth until it has made a formal decision to sell the site.
