Graham City Council to Consider Festival Street Closure, Other Business March 10

The Graham City Council convenes tonight at 6 p.m. in the Council Chamber of City Hall, 201 South Main Street, with an agenda that spans a festival street-closure request, routine municipal business, and a significant question of historic preservation: whether a church property on East Harden Street should be formally designated a city landmark.

The most detailed item visible in the 189-page agenda packet is an ordinance on page 120 that would designate the Children's Chapel United Church of Christ, located at 334 East Harden Street, as a historic landmark within the planning jurisdiction of the City of Graham. The ordinance states that the property at that address is owned by Children's Chapel Christian Church, a name that differs from the one used in the ordinance title. The packet does not explain the discrepancy between the two names.

Two separate bodies have already weighed in on the landmark question. The Graham Historic Resources Commission conducted an investigation and recommended the designation, and the State Historic Preservation Office declared the Children's Chapel United Church of Christ "a pivotal structure in the City of Graham." The ordinance also states that all requirements under North Carolina General Statutes 160D-945, 946(2), and 946(3) preceding adoption have been complied with. A public hearing on the designation was scheduled for tonight's meeting before the full council.

The agenda packet also includes a request for a festival street closure, though the packet excerpts available before the meeting do not identify the festival name, the organizer, the specific streets proposed for closure, or the dates and times involved. Those details are expected to emerge during the council's consideration of the item tonight.

Public-comment opportunities are listed as part of the meeting agenda. Residents wishing to attend can do so at Graham City Hall at 201 South Main Street. The council had not yet taken any formal votes on the items listed as of the time the agenda packet was published March 5.