Where the reviving Golden Belt neighborhood and the growing Durham Rescue Mission meet, there is a basic conflict (maybe that's too strong a word) of interests: residential interests on one hand and institutional interests on the other.

That was the esstential conclusion the two sets of interests, in the form of about 45 people, came to after an amicable get-to-know you meeting that ran two and a half hours last night.

The idea was to come up with plans to accommodate both and please both sides. They're getting together again, with assistance from the Durham Area Designers, on July 30.

The Rescue Mission, an addiction-rehab and emergency shelter institution at East Main Street and Alston Avenue needs to expand its campus to accommodate sharply rising demand for its services, founders Ernie and Gail Mills said.

Golden Belt, at the same time, wants to protect the historic character and "fabric" of the century-old mill village that extends from the former textile mill east across Alston Avenue past Rescue Mission property.

"We want input from the neighbors," Ernie Mills said several times. "We want to be a good neighbor."

Residents said they respect what the Mission does, and want to make it more a part of the neighborhood in a social sense, as well as a part in the sense of geography.

See more on the blend of issues and interests in Sunday's Durham News.