EDITORIAL: City, FSU move ahead on seniors, wellness; fire chief exits with big statewide honor

Feb. 16--Merit: For the Fayetteville City Council, which earlier this week approved a plan that will put together enough parcels of land to build new senior and wellness centers on Murchison Road near the Fayetteville State University campus.

The city's Senior Center East and the university's wellness center are a joint city-FSU project and a perfect piece of synergy that will benefit the school and city seniors -- and create more interaction between students and their elders.

The project approval is a money-where-your-mouth-is demonstration of the city's commitment to redevelopment of the Murchison Road corridor, which is one of the council's top priorities for the coming year -- and probably for years to come. It's likely that the building of the senior and wellness centers can be a catalyst for more redevelopment in the area.

The city is also discussing the possibility of moving City Hall and the police station to city-owned land near the intersection of Murchison Road and Rowan Street, a site that once was under consideration for the city's minor-league ballpark. We'd prefer to see a commercial or industrial development of some sort on that site, one that would generate tax revenue for the city and create new jobs. But there's no question the city needs to find more elbow room for city employees and the police. Both of their Hay Street headquarters were designed and built when the city and its staff were about half their present size. And vacating the current city and police structures may well make room for more downtown economic development that also would generate tax revenue for the city.

Merit: For Fayetteville Fire Chief Ben Major, who just won the North Carolina Career Fire Chief of the Year Award at the annual North Carolina Fire Chiefs Conference in Concord. Major, who's 57, has been Fayetteville's fire chief since 2011. The city hired him as an entry-level firefighter in 1984, shortly after he earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Pembroke State University.

The chief modestly says the award reflects the entire department, not just him. "I tell everybody it's not an individual award," he told an Observer reporter. "It is a result of the hard work of the team, the department, the organization as a whole. I was just fortunate enough to get the award, but it goes to all (department members) across the board."

The award carries a lot of prestige, because only one fire chief from across the state is chosen each year. There are more than 1,200 fire chiefs in this state, leading a variety of professional and volunteer departments.

Fayetteville's Fire Department is widely recognized for its excellence, and the quality of its work -- including fast response times -- has paid a big dividend for city residents, who enjoy lower homeowner insurance costs than in many other cities, thanks to the department's high ratings.

The only bad news in Major's award is that it's part of his swan song. The chief is retiring on March 1 after serving the city for 35 years. He's leaving quite a legacy -- and big shoes to fill.

Merit: For the evolving Hope Mills park and recreation development plan that will move the fast-growing town light years ahead in the amenities it can offer its residents. A preliminary consultant's report delivered to the town's commissioners this week recommends a "wagon wheel" baseball field complex, an indoor aquatics center, walking trails and natural space on the town's former golf course. The plan also suggests building a splash pad and a playground, and making changes to the ballfields at Municipal Park.

The commissioners voted unanimously this week to consider partnering with the YMCA to build the aquatics center on the 90-acre site off Golfview Road, where the town once had a golf course.

The town's preliminary plan also includes updates for existing parks, developing landscaping guidelines, funding for public art, making all town recreation facilities handicap-accessible and creating a greenway system in the town.

It's already a good plan and it's just the kind of amenities the town needs as it faces imminent explosive growth as the Outer Loop approaches and makes the town much more accessible, linking it with Fort Bragg, among many other destinations.

Merit: For Fayetteville leaders, who also are pursuing continuing improvements in the city's parks-and-recreation opportunities, in large part thanks to the $35 million bond issue that the voters approved in 2016. The latest addition to the city's recreation inventory began with a groundbreaking last week for a splash pad at the Dorothy Gilmore Therapeutic Recreation Center on Purdue Drive.

The splash pad, which will cost about $400,000, will be tied in with the recreation center's playground. It's the fourth splash pad the city has built with the bond money. The city expects to open the new facility by late spring or early summer -- just in time for the hot weather and the end of the school year. A double merit for that.

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