Greensboro City Council heard a proposal last Tuesday night, May 23, by Dr. John Dorsey of Project Horseshoe Farm to purchase two buildings downtown. Dorsey said Horseshoe, the nonprofit organization he leads, had offered by buy the McAdory clinic and the former HERO bunkhouse building from HERO, another Greensboro nonprofit that has faced financial strain in recent years. Both properties are located on Market Street on the north end of Greensboro’s downtown.
Dorsey said he had discussed the sale with representatives of HERO, but that the sale could not go through without the approval of the city. When HERO acquired the properties from the city of Greensboro, the deed contained three stipulations: that the property must be used for public purposes, that HERO cannot convey the property by lease or sale without the permission of the city, and that if the properties stop being used for public purposes, ownership of them would revert back to the city.
Dorsey said his organization would be able to make much-needed repairs to both buildings. “McAdory, right now, has a hole in the roof, and it’s just going to degrade,” he said. “We will definitely put it to good use for the city.”
City Clerk Lorrie Cook told the council that the city’s attorney was looking at the proposal. She said it was possible that, given the terms of the deed, HERO would not be allowed to sell the property at all—that ownership would revert to the city, which could then sell the property on to Horseshoe.
Dorsey said his organization would await the attorney’s opinion and move forward based on that.
“It think it would be a good thing,” said Councilmember Ashley Kyser.
Cook also announced to the council that the Alabama A.B.C. Board, which operates the state liquor store in the Town & Country shopping center on Tuscaloosa Street, was looking to relocate.
“Somebody from the A.B.C. board called and they just wanted the council to know that they’re looking for a different building,” Cook explained. She said A.B.C. was looking for a larger space.
Mayor J.B. Washington noted that the owners of the former Dollar General building on Tuscaloosa Street might not be interested in leasing that property, but did intend to sell it if possible. Cook said she would reach out to him.
The council set a workshop for June 6 at 6:00 p.m. to meet with the instructor from the year-long Economic Development Workshop council members have been attending through the Alabama League of Municipalities. The session will be an opportunity for the council to do more in-depth oneon- one work on issues they have been discussing at the sessions.
“Have you all apprehended any of these people that are going around here doing all this shooting?” Asked Councilmember Mary Bragg. Bragg was directing her question to Greensboro Police Chief Willie Lewis during the “public comment” portion of the meeting.
“We only have one right now,” said Lewis. “We do have numerous [suspects] we’re looking at,” he said. “We’re working on three different cases, and all of them are related.”
Councilmember Shepherd mentioned a yard in her district that she said was overgrown, in violation of city codes. “They just need to get that cleared out,” she said.
Kyser mentioned a problem with off-road vehicles, mainly four-wheelers and dirt bikes, driving through town. Kyser said it would happen at various times of day and days of the week. Shepherd noted that the council had discussed that issue before. “It’s usually Sunday afternoon,” she said. “The police have been coming and checking, that’s cut out some of it.”
“We’re just trying to do what we can,” said Lewis.
