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State board agrees to seed Clemson’s Restoration Institute
By Dan McCue
Staff Writer
After a contentious hour-long debate, the State Budget and Control Board agreed to provide Clemson University with the $10.3 million in seed money it needs to create its planned Restoration Institute of the former Navy base in North Charleston.
Gov. Mark Sanford, a member of the board and an outspoken opponent of the plan, was the lone dissenter in the 4-1 vote, which seems to, but may not have, put the matter to rest in Clemson’s favor.
At least one member of the board majority, Gen. Richard Eckstrom, said his vote on Dec. 12 was contingent on the university’s answering questions in January about its plans to oversee conservation of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley.
By that time, incoming state Treasurer Thomas Ravenel, a well-known fiscal conservative, will replace Grady Patterson on the board.
Joel Sawyer, a Sanford spokesman, said the governor hopes the lingering concerns over the plan and the change in board membership will provide him with an opportunity to reopen the issue of the loan.
Sanford has long maintained that he has grave concerns about spending public money on the planned 82-acre institute in the absence of assurances that private investment in the plan will follow.
“The governor calls it ‘Kevin Costner economics,’” Sawyer said after the board’s vote. “He feels Clemson is saying, ‘If you build it, they, meaning private investors, will come.’ But it’s not at all clear that’s the case.”
Clemson wants to build a campus at the Navy base focusing on environmental science, materials technology and urban redevelopment. It would be separate and distinct from the new Clemson Architecture Center slated for Meeting Street.
The Budget and Control Board last month put off approval of Clemson’s request to borrow money for the project pending clarification on the future funding of the project.
Sanford said many of the same questions remained. He wanted to know how the new campus fit into South Carolina’s overall higher education plan and what economic benefit the campus would bring to the Charleston area.
“The bottom line is, unlike Clemson’s International Center for Automotive Research, where you had a large amount of private capital promised and a clear idea on what was planned, that’s not the case here,” Sawyer said.
Eckstrom’s lingering concern about the proposal revolves around the contractual agreement between the university, the city of North Charleston and Friends of the Hunley.
While the contract, which must be ratified by the Budget and Control Board, states that Clemson will assume the outstanding contingent liabilities of Friends of the Hunley, it doesn’t specify an amount in writing.
The university said the liabilities, which include items such as employment contracts, amount to $265,555.
“So what you have, in essence, is a verbal agreement on an exact amount that’s not reflected in the written contract,” Sawyer said. “The governor and, evidently, Gen. Eckstrom believe that constitutes a real cause for concern.”
Summey predicts outcome
Sanford discussed his concerns about the proposed materials science campus with the Charleston Regional Business Journal while attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the grand opening of Global Aeronautica’s new assembly facility adjacent to Charleston International Airport.
At the time, just four days before the Budget and Control Board was to reconvene, Sanford initially responded with a shrug when asked about the fate of the restoration institute.
After a pause, he said, “We’ll find out next week.”
But Sanford made clear he had seen nothing over the preceding month to make him change his mind on the proposal.
“The problem is, we have a very expensive delivery system for higher education and we’re pricing our kids out of getting that education,” he said. “If we were to approve this proposal, by the time we did so, there would be 91 college and university campuses in the state, and those campuses are very expensive.
“In the business world, it’s understood that you can’t be all things to all people, but we try to do that in the realm of higher education. I think that’s a mistake, particularly when I have not seen any data that indicates a restoration institute will create jobs in the state or help us retain the intellectual capital we foster here.”
But North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey, who attended the same event as Sanford and predicted the State Budget and Control Board would approve the project, disagreed.
“I’m a believer in this project because I think it holds for the Lowcountry the same promise Clemson’s International Center for Automotive Research brought to the Upstate,” Summey said.
“What people have to understand is this is a long-term endeavor. In the long run, it’s our belief in North Charleston that this proposal will create thousands of jobs in the region and generate an enormous economic benefit for the Lowcountry.
“It simply comes down to this: If you get the initial investment, private investment will follow.”
Sanford, however, said in some instances initial investment is simply too costly. Picking up a theme that was very much in evidence during the Global Aeronautica event, the governor said, “It’s one thing to dream with Boeing behind you; it’s another to have a dream with no evident commercial application and no commercial backing.
“You can decide to invest your money in something like that, as can anyone in this building, but I can’t do that with the public’s money.”
Clemson stakes out its position
While there has been rampant speculation following the board’s vote that Sanford may get a second chance to block funding for the restoration institute in January, Clemson officials are confident that’s not the case.
In a document obtained from the office of John Kelly, Clemson’s vice president for public service and agriculture, an unidentified university attorney opined that as long as Clemson submits an amended agreement to the board showing that it is obligated only for $265,555 in outstanding and contingent liabilities of Friends of the Hunley, “there should be no need for additional debate on this matter.”
In a written statement, Kelly already seemed to be looking forward, not girding for a fight. Now that the board has acted, “the first step will be to develop a master plan for the site and to purchase critical equipment for the advanced materials group to use in the Lasch laboratory,” he said.
University officials said Clemson is now actively recruiting scientists who have the capability of working with private sector partners and talking with companies about the restoration concept and their potential interest in the North Charleston property.
“Everything is still in the planning phase, so patience is critical. It will be up to the individual companies to determine when to announce their plans,” said one official who requested anonymity.
For his part, Summey declined to gloat.
“My prediction was based solely on my belief that a majority of the board would realize what a project like this means for this region and this state,” he said. “We are embarking on a new level of dealing with companies that are involved in restoration efforts. At the same time, I believed they would recognize that in the world we’re living in, with all the environmental issues we face, people are going to be looking for ways to reuse materials, and an industry will steadily grow in response to those desires.
“It seems to me that there are a number of companies out there that are ready to embrace this concept because they are already on the lookout for new products, and this will benefit our economy, not just today but down the road, when the child that’s in high school right now will be considering what kind of career he should pursue.”
Dan McCue is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dmccue@charlestonbusiness.com.
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