Cherry community group raises concerns over Atrium Health’s ‘innovation district’
Atrium Health’s billion-dollar “innovation district” that would bring a medical school to Charlotte took another step closer to reality Monday night during a public hearing for a rezoning petition.
But some residents in the surrounding community are raising concerns about the proposal.
Sylvia Bittle-Patton of the Cherry Community Organization pushed the City Council for the inclusion of affordable housing and access to affordable healthcare at the site. She asked the city to work to mitigate the impacts of displacement of residents and note the important history of what was once the city’s largest Black neighborhood that had been in the area.
“If this is to be a place for people to live and work and play then all people who will work there must have an equal opportunity to live and play there, as well,” Bittle-Patton told City Council members during the hearing.
Last week, Atrium Health unveiled new details of its $1.5 billion innovation district near the intersection of McDowell and Baxter streets. It comes after Atrium combined with Wake Forest Baptist Health, including the Wake Forest School of Medicine, to work to bring a medical school to Charlotte.
Charlotte is the largest city in the country without a four-year medical school, Atrium has said.
Plans for the Innovation District
The new school will be built on a 20-acre parcel. Plans for the proposal include a medical school, research building, medical office, residential buildings and retail.
Atrium is seeking to rezone a little more than 14 acres. The land currently falls under several different zoning districts. Atrium is seeking to combine them into one mixed-use district to accommodate the development of the school, retail and residential.
A little over 1 million square feet is being proposed for non-residential units. Atrium’s petition also calls for improving walkability in the area and building a cycle track and other street improvements near Baxter Street.
City Council did not hold a vote on the petition. Petitions with public hearings go back to the zoning committee for additional recommendation and then come back to City Council for a vote, potentially at next month’s meeting.
Righting historic wrongs
Bittle-Patton said her community group has met with Atrium officials since the proposal first came about and looks forward to working with them on a number of issues.
She described the Brooklyn neighborhood as a sister community to Cherry, and noted how the land near the site was acquired through eminent domain and urban renewal.
Like other cities, Charlotte demolished Brooklyn and other once-thriving Black neighborhoods through the federal urban renewal program. It was described as a “slum-clearance” program, but is now largely regarded as a way to move Black people off of valuable land near downtown areas.
“Yes, that may have been decades ago but for Charlotte’s Black community the betrayal is still fresh in our minds,” Bittle-Patton said. “We must be intentional about righting this wrong.”
Bittle-Patton also requested that there be a public education component as part of the district and inclusion of a free or reduced-cost health clinic on the campus. “Charlotte needs more options for affordable healthcare,” she said.
A representative of Atrium said the hospital system is happy to continue to engage with the community.
Construction on the medical school is expected to begin in early 2022 and open by 2024.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 12:09 PM.
