A joint committee of the North Carolina legislature decided last Wednesday that it would not stand in the way of NC State's plans to build an executive conference center and golf course on Centennial Campus.

The university was required to submit the project for review by the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations. Although the committee had no specific authority to block the plan, some members of the state's hotel and restaurant industry who see the conference center as competition had hoped the legislators would use their influence to try and stall the project.

Instead, after reading written reports from NC State on the project and hearing oral statements, the committee said that the university had sufficiently fulfilled its requirement to consult with them and took no further action.

In their testimony, university officials stressed that the goal in building the executive conference center and golf course is first and foremost to fulfill NC State's educational mission, and that the project is also important in building and maintaining relationships with its Centennial Campus partners.

"The university is appreciative of the interest and confidence exhibited by members of the legislature, who spent considerable time reviewing the information provided for the consulting process," said George Worsley, vice chancellor for finance and business.

The next step in the approval process is to present the plan to the Council of State, which must approve a lease on the land the university plans to use to build the facilities.

Posted December 9, 2002

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