Votes set on Dix park proposal

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Members of North Carolina’s Council of State and Raleigh’s City Council are set to vote Tuesday on a deal to turn the 325-acre Dorothea Dix Hospital campus into a park.

Gov. Bev Perdue wants to lease the sprawling hospital grounds to Raleigh for $68?million over 75 years.

Perdue administration officials announced the terms Friday, ending months of negotiations to create a destination park near downtown.

Under the proposed deal, Raleigh would pay $500,000 a year to lease the property, plus a 1.5 percent annual increase compounded over the length of the agreement. City leaders would then have the option to renew the lease for another 24 years.

Republican Gov.-elect Pat McCrory has asked the Democratic-controlled Council of State to delay the decision until his administration takes power in January.

Credit: The Associated Press.