Durham charter school applies for permits to demolish homes

Durham, N.C. — A Durham charter school has completed the application process for permits to knock down two homes in the city's Morehead Hills neighborhood. City leaders said demolition of the properties, at 804 and 806 Jackson St., could begin when the permits are issued – as soon as next week.

Healthy Start Academy, at 807 West Chapel Hill St., has been at odds with Preservation Durham over the plan.

Liz Morey, executive director of Healthy Start Academy, said the academy’s 330 students need more space to play outside and that the homes, which are in an historic neighborhood, are not themselves historic properties.

Preservation Durham wants the homes saved.

"To demolish and destroy those two houses would be like knocking out your front two teeth, on that very block,” Durham Councilman Eugene Brown said.

Brown said the city is working to revitalize Morehead Hills.