State budget yields building for ASU
By Frank Ruggiero
ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com

One could say Appalachian State University finds the North Carolina state budget most educational.

In fact, ASU chief of staff Lorin Baumhover called the $20.7 billion budget “extraordinary,” as it includes a $34 million earmark for ASU’s new college of education building.
“It’s an extraordinary budget for the University of North Carolina system,” Baumhover said. “We really have to appreciate the investment that the legislators have made in the future of not only this university, but all the other constituent universities.”

Baumhover said ASU received full funding for enrollment growth, as well as repair and renovation funding.
However, the final figures specific to the university have not yet been crunched and should be available in late August.

Last year, the university received $1.8 million in planning money for the college of education. The $34 million, to be paid in full, will lead to the building’s construction.
University administrators are still convinced the proposed site, located near College and Howard streets, is the best location for a new education building. The university foundation and endowment have purchased two of three land parcels on the site, with the third expected to close in August.

The first property, formerly owned by Ann and J.C. Boone, features a two-story duplex and brick dwelling, valued at $588,500. The second, formerly owned by Cottrell Enterprises Inc., consists of two apartment buildings, a detached cottage and brick duplex building, valued at $1,950,000.

The final property, owned by Jack Underdown, Daniel Park and Robert Ball, contains an apartment building with an estimated value of $1,750,000. It is to be purchased by the ASU Endowment Fund for later disposition, and Baumhover expects the deal to close this month.

The original plan involved the purchase of a fourth parcel of land, belonging to the Dedmond family, but Baumhover said the project could proceed with three of the parcels.
“We’re closing on the apartments, and that will complete the process,” Baumhover said, adding that all current leases will be honored.

The university would then have to acquire the property from the endowment and foundation, and a $5 million appropriation was included in the state budget for land acquisition for the UNC system. Appalachian requested $4 million. “That doesn’t necessarily mean we get it, though,” Baumhover said.
From there, the university would need permission from the Board of Governors to proceed with demolition and land-clearing. Demolition would commence with that approval, which the university hopes to gain by autumn.

Were things to go according to plan, ground could be turned on the project in a matter of months. However, construction of the 120,000 square foot building is a contentious matter with the town of Boone, namely because the plans do not conform to municipal regulations.

The building plans were submitted for public hearing in February, but they were quickly withdrawn upon university administration’s receipt of a Boone Development Services staff report that indicated the building plans did not conform to town land use regulations.

For instance, the plans depicted a building with 10 times the allowable square footage and a height exceeding regulations by 47 feet.
In addition, the project doesn’t meet the town’s minimum open space requirement of 32,775 square feet, being deficient by 15,180 square feet. Further, the building would encroach 97 feet into the required setback of 110 feet.

The town and university have scheduled a meeting for Monday, Aug. 20, at 5 p.m. in Boone Town Council Chambers to presumably discuss the matter.
“We’re continuing our discussions with the town of Boone, and we anticipate a resolution of this,” Baumhover said. “I think we’ll find a common ground here.”