Community members spilled into the aisles and lined up along the walls at Monday's Durham City Council meeting, waiting for a chance to speak.
Residents of Walltown, a neighborhood less than two blocks away from East Campus, clapped and cheered in support of an amendment that could accelerate the design of a new Park Recreation Center for Walltown by more than six months.
The amendment, which passed 6-1, proposed keeping the project's original contractor-G. H. Williams Collaborative, a firm headed by council member Howard Clement's brother-in-law George Williams-in order to proceed immediately to later stages of design and planning.
The project, which has been in the works for three years, is currently in the stage of schematic design-a rough outline that represents less than 30 percent of the final design.
"We have been very patient, but no more," said one resident.
Walltown residents and six city council members said the time was right to move forward.
"We have come before the council [for] several years now," said another resident, adding that the current council was the first to acknowledge that Walltown's children need a nearby place to play.
But the project could potentially cost the city more than $10 million, said council member Euguene Brown, who was the lone voice of dissent.
"I cannot sit here in all good conscience and support this project for your community-[or] any community," Brown said, adding that the decision should be made for economic and not political reasons.
Brown noted that the current cost estimate for the center's design and construction is $8.7 million-without a swimming pool.
Council member Diane Catotti said she is concerned because the design proposes gutting the old center but keeping its walls for historic purposes-a plan that will cost more than demolition.
Catotti proposed three motions to check the cost of the project and keep G.H. Williams on schedule.
In other business:
Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse was voted the exclusive developer of the Durham Athletic Park, a multiple-use venue for the Durham community.
The park's construction could potentially provide jobs for Durham residents.
Durham Mayor Bill Bell said regardless of how proficient and qualified Struever Bros. is to execute the project, the company will still be held under close scrutiny.
"We expect certain things to happen," Bell added.
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