In today’s headlines: The Dowd YMCA’s Confederate past
With preparations underway for the much-needed $20 million facelift to the Dowd YMCA on Morehead Street (new facade, more parking, more workout space, etc.), a rift has erupted.
Y officials plan to remove from its front lawn a stone monument that pays homage to the N.C. Military Institute and is emblazoned with a Confederate flag. Some historical groups are upset.
Dowd YMCA plans to remove monument with Confederate battle flag carving http://t.co/5TSRfgjiID pic.twitter.com/GSjE46sBIO
— Charlotte Observer (@theobserver) September 7, 2015
//><!--This dispute has highlighted a fascinating history behind the Dowd Y’s land, including://--><!
— In 1859, the North Carolina Military Institute opened at East Morehead Street and South Boulevard as a military academy. It was patterned after West Point in New York.
“James Dinkins…was sent by his parents to Charlotte, North Carolina Military Institute. He reached http://t.co/ldqnNynxwE — NC Civil War Center (@CivilWarNC) March 6, 2015
//><!--— Once the war was in full swing, the building was converted to a military hospital and prison. A cemetery behind the building marks many soldiers’ graves.//--><!
— Soon after the war, the site held a number of schools: Mecklenburg Female College, and then the Charlotte Military Institute, a private school for boys and finally the South Graded School, Charlotte’s first tax-supported public school.
— The school was razed in 1954. Four years later, the Dowd YMCA was built.
The Dowd YMCA is going to look very different after a planned $20M renovation http://t.co/fOTUYXicrA pic.twitter.com/8KPqLZNAWj
— Charlotte Observer (@theobserver) May 12, 2015
If the battle flag is at issue, Brian Allmon, commander of the Charlotte-based Stonewall Jackson Camp No. 23 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said his group is willing to cover the engraving with an image that displays how the N.C. Military Institute looked in its heyday. Walker added that a photograph of the school and hospital could be “burned” into a piece of metal large enough to cover the flag.
In other headlines …
The earth moved in Clover: An explosion Saturday night between Lake Wylie and Clover, near the NC/SC line, left a 5-foot crater and sent smoke 75 feet into the air. Police found traces of plastic and a pink powder, which they believe is from some type of device. Nobody was injured.
Violent weekend in Charlotte: It was a tragic crime weekend for Charlotte, with 11 shootings that resulted in 5 deaths, including that of a 7-year-old boy at a birthday party in Southwest Charlotte.
Voted yet?: No reason to miss out on this year’s primary election. In addition to CPCC’s central campus, early voting sites are now open at various library branches: Beatties Ford, Independence, Main, Morrison, South County, Steele Creek, University City and West Boulevard. Open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Friday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
This story was originally published September 7, 2015 at 9:00 PM with the headline "In today’s headlines: The Dowd YMCA’s Confederate past."