 MICHAEL
SMITH
Charlotte Center City Partners
By Jim Kelley
Cecily Durrett introduced Michael Smith. Michael
serves as the President of Charlotte Center City Partners, which is
dedicated to the promotion and enhancement of business, cultural,
retail and residential initiatives in the urban core of the
Charlotte region. Michael holds an MBA from Kellogg Graduate School
of Management at Northwestern and holds a BA degree from UNC Chapel
Hill. He has held corporate roles at AT&T, First Union and
By-Products Interactive. Prior to being President at CCCP, Michael
was the CFO at the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, he
is very active with St. Ann Catholic Church and Catholic Social
Services for western North Carolina.
Michael gave an update on progress made in the last six months on an
economic development proposal by Charlotte Center City Partners with
three objectives: (1) optimize the location of the West Park with
frontage on S. Tryon St. (2) bring baseball back to Center City
Charlotte (3) jump-start the city's Second Ward Neighborhood Plan.
The proposed location of the park is Church, 3rd, Mint and 2nd
Streets, the number one choice of the county's park consultants. The
park will connect to Tryon Street along a 25-50 foot wide Park
Promenade with a Gateway on Tryon, with connections to Tryon Street
through the Latta Arcade and along 2nd Street.
The baseball stadium's proposed location is Mint, Graham, 2nd and
4th Streets. It will provide affordable family entertainment with 71
home games. CCCP suggests the City offer a similar arrangement as
they provided the Panthers: a long-term land lease and necessary
infrastructure improvements. The Knights and private sources are
willing to fund the balance of the construction costs for a $34MM
Stadium.
The third element is a neighborhood where Marshall Park and the
Board of Education now sit to begin the Second Ward Neighborhood
Plan. Mass Mutual will build a mixed use project to include office
space and introduce workforce housing options.
Michael explained it would take five steps to make this happen: (1)
Mass Mutual and Wachovia agree to make their property available so
Charlotte can achieve the ideal park site for our main urban park.
(2) Mass Mutual agrees to purchase Wachovia's contiguous land along
2nd Street and Mint. (3) The City swaps Marshall Park with the
County for the current West Park site. (4) The County & CMS swap
Marshall Park and the Board of Education property for Mass Mutual's
assembled park site. Mass Mutual develops a mixed use development on
the Marshall Park and the Board of Education property (Second Ward
site) consistent with the Second Ward Neighborhood Plan. (5) CMS is
compensated for their land value through a Synthetic TIF that is
created for the Second Ward development and the proceeds are
dedicated to build a new headquarters for CMS on the site.
In closing, Michael mentioned that it has been a complicated deal
involving a five party transaction with three of those being elected
bodies. Still, he is hopeful that operating agreements are
documented by September or October of this year.
Head Table:
Pender McElroy, Mac McCarley, Herb Harriss, Cecily Durrett, Tim
Newman, Peggy Wesp; Invocation: Chris Thomas
Visitors &
Guests:
Darrel Stephens; Health & Happiness: Phil Van Hoy; Song: David
Erdman; Piano: Thomas Moore
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GROUP STUDY
EXCHANGE |
Charlotte Rotary will be
participating in a reciprocal Group Study Exchange with London
District 1130, September 23-October 22, 2006.
Contact: Peggy Wesp, 704-489-2911 or
peggy.wesp@gmail.com.
Applications:
www.rotary.org/foundation/educational/gse/leader/index.html.
Deadline: before June 27. (Full text available on
our site here)
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TEAM LEADER
qualifications:
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Be an
experienced Rotarian
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Not be the
current district governor, immediate past district governor
or district governor elect
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Remain with the
team the duration of the exchange
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Be willing and
able (physically and mentally) to keep pace with the GSE
which can be demanding
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Not be
accompanied by a spouse, companion or relative or dependent
TEAM MEMBERS must:
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Be between the
ages of 25-40
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Be employed
full-time in a recognized profession
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NOT be a
Rotarian, honorary Rotarian, employee of Rotary, a
descendent or spouse of a Rotarian
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NOT be the
spouse of another TEAM MEMBER
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NOT be a former
Rotarian or the spouse or descendent of a former Rotarian
HOME HOST a TEAM
MEMBER from London District 1130 for 2-3 nights between March
17-April 14 (exact dates not established) OR offer a
professional visit to the TEAM to your place of work OR
host a breakfast, lunch or dinner for the TEAM. |
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Rotary Club of Charlotte
841 Baxter Street, Suite 118, Charlotte 28202
chltrot@bellsouth.net 704-375-6816 |
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þ
Frank Watson introduced the
club's newest member, Jesse Jones.
Jesse, a former Rotarian in Miami, is Vice President and
General Counsel to PPDC Medical and affiliated companies.
Contact Jesse at
jessej@diagnosticdevicesinc.com.
þ
Susan Manning
was released from the hospital Tuesday afternoon and will be
recuperating at her home in Davidson.
þ
Sherman Burns, Sherman
Burns Executive Coaching, will participate in the Friendship
Force's tour to Australia and New Zealand in August.
þ
Suzanne Bledsoe was
photographed while attending the MecDec Celebration; an
event held May 20th which honored the Mecklenburg
Declaration of Independence signed May 20, 1775.
þ
Ambassadorial Scholarship committee chair,
Ed Kizer, announced that
District 7680s Ambassadorial Scholar recipient will be
Deborah Hirsh. Deborah is a Reporter with The Charlotte
Observer and has requested to study Spanish in Ecuador or
Mexico. Deborah was interviewed and recommended by Charlotte
Rotary. Now is the time to begin identifying candidates for
next year. Questions or potential candidates should be
referred to Tom Norwood.
þ
HOST FAMILY NEEDED!
Ed Wadsworth and members
of the Student Exchange Committee are searching for a host
family to cover lodging for our incoming (female) student
from Korea. The time frame will cover February-May, 2007 and
the school assignment will be Charlotte Country Day. Contact
Ed or Lamar Thomas for questions or to volunteer.
þ
Pam Meister would like
to remind club members that the Charlotte Museum of History
will host its third annual World War II encampment over the
weekend. The WTVI/Charlotte Rotary Club Documentary will be
shown throughout the day on Saturday (10 a.m. to 4 p.m).
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Make Note: Charlotte
West Rotary club meetings have moved to the Sheraton
Charlotte Airport Hotel (Wednesday at 12:30).
þ
On May 16th Janet Fortner,
CEO of Hospice & Palliative Care Charlotte Region, held the
ground breaking ceremony for Levine & Dickson Hospice House,
the first freestanding hospice facility in Mecklenburg
County. The facility will be built in The Park Huntersville
with an anticipated completion date of late 2007.
þ
Charlotte Van & Storage Co., Inc. (Frank
Watson) is the official carrier tasked with
moving the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit across the United States.
Next stop will be the Pacific Science Center in Seattle,
Washington.
þ
Jerry Walters
contributed to an article on federal and state wage-and-hour
lawsuits in the Business of Law insert in this week's
Business Journal. |
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The Four
Way Test
Of the things we think, say or do
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all
concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL
and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to
all concerned? |
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Attendance
Record |
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5/30/06 |
5/31/05 |
| visitors &
guests |
8 |
16 |
| club
members |
179 |
177 |
| total
attendance |
187 |
193 |
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New Members | Resignations |
Craig Simpson
Jesse C. Jones |
John McDermitt
Scott Stover |
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| Roaming
Rotarians |
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Ronnie Pruett, Berlin, Hannover and Worms, Germany |
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Wedding
Anniversaries |
06 Sarah and Tony Lathrop
07 Jean and Al Allison
07 Betty and Erskine Harkey
08 Julie and John Armistead
08 Eileen and Pat Millen
08 Gayle and Young Smith
09 Inez and Harley Dickson
09 Linda and John Shell
10 Leslie and Budd Berro
10 Ann and Julius Melton
10 Gloria and Guy Wilson
11 Lori and Jeff Hurd
12 Karen and Herb Harriss |
| Birthdays and
Birthplaces |
06 Sam Spencer, Rock Hill, SC
06 David Zimmerman,
Greensboro, NC
07 Jeff Searcy, Louisville, KY
08 Edgar Love, Lincolnton, NC
08 Susan Manning,
Charlotte, NC
08 Tom Wright, Charlotte, NC
09 Henry Bostic,
Lumberton, NC
09 Claude Lilly, Atlanta, GA
10 Leroy Mayne, Rockhold, KY
11 Tom Bartholomy,
Ft. Wayne, IN
11 Lee Morris, Chester, PA
11 Paul Smith,
New Orleans, LA
12 Suzanne Bledsoe,
Newberry, SC
12 Elsie Garner, Trujillo, Peru |
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