The Orange County Board of County Commissioners and Carrboro Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to name the new building at 203 S. Greensboro Street as the “Drakeford Library Complex” in honor of the late Bob Drakeford, Carrboro’s first Black mayor.
Commonly known as the 203 Project, the construction is a collaboration between the Town of Carrboro and Orange County to create a community three-story public facility with opportunities for education, art and connection.
The space will be home to Orange County’s upcoming Southern Branch Library, also housing Carrboro Recreation, Parks and Cultural Resources; Orange County Skills Development Center; WCOM Radio; a teen center and performance/multipurpose uses.
The name will remember the late mayor, who passed away in 2022, for his services to the community. Elected in 1977, Drakeford was an advocate for public transit and cycling. Serving until 1983, he planned the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Bus System and held the position during the hiring of Carrboro’s first professional planner, a decision that helped set the standards for making the town more accessible to pedestrians and cyclists.
During his tenure, Drakeford collaborated with other progressive Black mayors in the South, and he held public office when the Council (then Board of Aldermen) hired Richard Knight as the town’s first Black town manager. Drakeford also established a loan program to encourage business entrepreneurs and created the Carrboro Community Park, later renamed the Hank Anderson Community Park.
“I voted for Mayor Drakeford twice — in 1979 and ‘81,” said Council Member Randee Haven-O’Donnell on Tuesday. “I’m delighted that we have the opportunity to honor his work and his contributions.”
It is their hope, Haven-O’Donnell added, the community will think of the building as a cornerstone of democracy.
“Given that we live at a time where books are banned, books are purged, books are eliminated from libraries at an unprecedented rate, and that Carrboro and the county are building a library in Carrboro at a time when libraries are under such pressure,” they said.
The project’s naming committee voted to formally recommend naming the building after Drakeford in September. The decision followed a communitywide “Name that Building” survey that received more than 200 responses. Members of the naming committee include Carrboro Town Councilmembers Eliazar Posada and Catherine Fray, Orange County Commissioners Anna Richards and Sally Green, and Alex Brown and Nerys Levy from Friends of the Library.
The new library in downtown Carrboro will be accessible from Chapel Hill Transit bus routes CW, F and J, the Go Triangle 405 route, a S. Greensboro Street sidewalk, and the Libba Cotten Bikeway. A parking deck will also accompany the building, with 171 vehicle spaces and 70 bike parking spots.
To view the full Town Council meeting, click here.
To view the Board of Commissioners meeting, click here.
For more information on the project, click here.
Featured image via the Town of Carrboro.
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This is the first time that a name I helped propose happened. How cool!