ASU seeks Boone’s

OK for journalism

complex
By Frank Ruggiero

Appalachian State University is hoping to hit the airwaves with a new broadcasting center, though it will need a green light from the Boone Town Council.

University officials appeared before the council and Boone Area Planning Commission Thursday, Nov. 13, at the town’s quarterly public hearing, requesting a zoning change for property in the central business district.

The university requested to change the zoning classification of the former Alliance Bible Fellowship building, located at the corner of Depot and Rivers streets, from B-1 (central business) to U-1 (university) to establish the George G. Beasley Broadcasting Complex.

Greg Lovins, ASU’s interim vice chancellor for business affairs, spoke on behalf of the university, explaining that the building has a history of institutional and educational use.

Alliance Bible Fellowship purchased the building in 1982, Lovins said, and it was later sold to the university in November 2000.

Since then the building has been used for administrative purposes, and the communication disorders clinic was formerly located there.

The building neighbors the university, with both the student recreation complex and Walker Hall across the street. Walker houses the communication department, while nearby Wey Hall is home to the WASU radio station, and Lovins said the broadcasting complex would be conveniently located near both.

Council member Rennie Brantz asked if the university planned to tear down the existing structure and build anew. Lovins said no, in that the plan is to renovate the existing building and build an additional 5,900-square-foot building on the neighboring parking lot.

Brantz asked if that would be a single-story building, and Lovins said it would have three stories, though a portion of the ground level would be dedicated to handicapped parking because of flood plain issues.

Mayor Loretta Clawson asked how much parking the building would consume, since the lot in question opens for public use in the evening. Lovins said the building would take a little less than half the lot, and the remaining spaces would still be available for public use after hours.

Council member Janet Pepin asked Lovins how the university would benefit from moving from B-1 to U-1, and Lovins said the University of North Carolina system has directed its member campuses to proceed in such a direction. Lovins acknowledged questions about whether or not the university could instead pursue a special use permit, but, “We’re restricted from doing so. A lot of it comes down to that. We’re asked to … change our property from another zoning district to university zoning for our use.”

Planning commission vice chairwoman Mary Ruth McRae said she was not very familiar with the building’s history, but she knew that in the late 1970s, Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute used it for classes. She asked Lovins if the building were historical, since it’s been a literal cornerstone of the downtown Boone area.

“I’ve got some strong sense that we’ve got to preserve what we can preserve, since we’ve lost so much for various reasons,” she said.

Lovins admitted he wasn’t certain, but said McRae’s question was an excellent one.

Planning commission chairman Bunk Spann asked if the university had plans for storm water runoff, since Kraut Creek runs near the property. Lovins said the university is interested in preserving Kraut Creek, and rainwater would be caught in a tank for reuse.

University attorney Dayton Cole mentioned the town’s comprehensive plan, particularly language that emphasizes the need for a continuation of government and educational activities downtown, including a section that urges caution about the university expanding downtown.

“I wanted to submit to you that this property is not, in my view, in downtown proper,” Cole said, adding that the caution seemed more appropriate for areas like Howard and King streets. “(The building) is in that kind of transition area, as I view it, between the large university campus and the downtown proper. And given the history of the use of this property, it will not, if you approve the zoning request … erode the present critical mass of businesses in the downtown area.”

On the contrary, Cole said a U-1 property would benefit downtown in a number of ways, bringing not only students and university employees to the downtown area but also visitors. “I think it’s going to be the kind of development in which the university again and the town can partner to do something that’s going to help revitalize and embellish what’s already going on in a good downtown area,” he said.

Glenda Treadaway, interim dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts, told council and commission members that the building would provide a link between the community and the students and faculty using it.

Acknowledging that neither board was to consider specific uses with such requests, Treadaway assured both that the building’s aesthetic integrity would not only be maintained, but improved.

“And it is an area that, I think, will bring together some university and community members to work together, possibly in some broadcasting or production modes,” she said.

Spann referred to the building’s boarded up windows, and Treadaway said they would be restored to display live broadcasts in many instances.

Patrick Beville, project manager for university design and construction, appeared on behalf of the Kraut Creek Committee, on which he serves as vice chairman.

The committee recently spearheaded a successful restoration project for the downtown waterway, in which the university assisted.

“The university was a valuable partner in this project,” he said, mentioning reduced impervious surface of the parking area and the volunteering of resources – both human and financial. “So, the Kraut Creek Committee really appreciates all the contributions the university made in order to accomplish this project. That being said … we feel confident the university is not going to do anything … to cause problems with the creek. From that perspective, the committee has no issue with the rezoning request.”

The Boone Town Council is expected to take action on the request at its regular meeting Thursday, Nov. 20.