ECA SPRING 2017 NEWSLETTER

New Restaurant GRUB Opening in May 2017

We are pleased to announce that GRUB will be opening soon! Stacey Poston and Wendy Woods, owners of Nosh and Pipers In the Park, have lived and worked in the Durham area for over 20 years. Their latest endeavor, located at 1200 West Chapel Hill Street, combines their passion for community with their love and experience in the restaurant industry. We designed GRUB – which will offer full service breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as catering and a rooftop bar – with its original location in mind, keeping some of the charm of this former neighborhood gas station. We are delighted to be working with Gateway Building Company to see this project to completion and we hope you'll join us there to celebrate the opening in May, or for Thirst 4 Architecture in June (see below). Also, check out the recent feature about GRUB in The Herald Sun.

Thirst 4 Architecture @ GRUB on June 15th

We're excited that GRUB will be hosting North Carolina Modernist Homes' Thirst 4 Architecture event on June 15th. We hope you will come out and join us for a drink and some good conversation. These exciting, informal happy hours are free and open to the public. They welcome Modernist homeowners, architects, artists, designers, realtors, engineers, contractors, property investors, building managers, materials and furniture dealers – or anyone with a huge crush on great architecture. There are no presentations – just come join the fun, enjoy the wonderful new space at GRUB, and make new design friends! 

Renovating a Modernist Home in Orange County

We will soon be starting on a new project renovating this treasure of a home in Orange County, working alongside AG Builders. Originally built in 1961, the house features three radial fireplaces, two of which are inside and a third which opens up onto an expansive patio space. Keep your eye out for images of the renovation in our upcoming newsletters!

New Bowling Alley and Restaurant at Liberty Warehouse

We are currently in the design stage for a new bowling alley and accompanying restaurant in the historic Liberty Warehouse, right across the street from the ECA office. We'll share images and more information as we continue with this project!

Looking for ways to get involved in the Durham community?

Are you tired of and overwhelmed by the national and state news? Are you looking for opportunities to get involved in tangible ways in your local community? Here are three great opportunities, some of which are happening this week:

1. Downtown Durham Master Plan Public Review Meeting

Check out the 2016 Draft Downtown Durham Master Plan, and then join us a for a public review on either Thursday, March 23rd, 4-6pm or Thursday, March 30th, 6-8pm. Both meetings will take place at this address:

The Temple Building
302 W. Main St.
Durham, NC 27701

Ellen has played an integral role in forming this master plan. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated, either in person at one of the meetings or by emailing your comments and questions to masterplan@downtowndurham.com.

2. Bicycle Boulevards Community Work Session

Help Durham’s leading designers envision Durham as a world-class bicycling city! Durham Bicycle Boulevards is a group of civic leaders, business leaders and non-profit leaders working towards a future where cyclists of all ages-and-abilities can safely transverse the city to get to school, work, or play. They are aiming to design, fund, and build a 15-mile urban network in which cyclists are never more than 4 blocks from a bicycle-priority corridor.

Work Session Primer: What are Bicycle Boulevards?
Thursday, March 23, 6pm-7:30pm, Rigsbee Hall, 723 Rigsbee Avenue
Description: Transportation staff and members of the Durham Bicycle Boulevard board will showcase the concept, as implemented in Berkeley, CA and Portland, OR, and potentially in Durham. This event will set the tone and provide a scope of work for Saturday’s co-design session.

Community Work Session: Bicycle Boulevards
Saturday, March 25, 9am-2pm, Rigsbee Hall, 723 Rigsbee Avenue

Description: Break out groups will develop solutions for specific bike-priority corridors, considering various speed management and intersection treatments. Designers will live sketch potential solutions.

3. Trees Over Durham Forum

Learn all about trees in Durham and share what you would like to see in the future. Start the day learning all about trees, then participate in visioning sessions where you get to share what you think. At the end, we'll hear from people who have made trees work for diverse communities and produce a vision statement of what we want for our trees and communities in Durham. Register here!

Tuesday, April 25, 2:30pm - 8pm, Durham Arts Center, 120 Morris Street
Dinner will be available for registered participants.
Childcare will be available, but you must pre-register to let them know how many children will need care.

Round Two of Indy Week's "Best Of" the Triangle Voting

If you voted for us in IndyWeek's "Best Of" nominations, THANK YOU! Starting April 17th, the top four nominations in each category will be announced and round two of voting will commence. If you find a minute, please consider submitting another vote for Ellen Cassilly Architect. The second round is when the votes really matter! As always, we greatly appreciate your support.

Wishing you all a wonderful spring,
Ellen, Meredith, Keith, Megan, Esther, Jessina, and Nina