N.C. State University Chancellor Marye Anne Fox has pledged to find a private backer for the $71 million Centennial Campus Executive Conference Center project after asking the N.C. Council of State to hold off voting on the issue.
Several members of the council, which is composed of the heads of the state's elected offices, stated that they would vote against the project if there was not a private backer. The council has to approve all major state land uses.
"Now (Fox) has basically said she will seek to find private partners," said Tim Lucas, spokesman for N.C. State.
Attorney General Roy Cooper, a member of the council, stated that he would have voted against the conference center had the issue come before the council Monday as originally scheduled.
"I had two concerns which I expressed to representatives of the university and Centennial Campus," he stated in a press release. "The first is that this request came during a budget crisis when so many needs face public education, law enforcement and other areas.
"Second, the Centennial Campus has been a successful public-private partnership, and I am concerned that there is no longer a private developer in the project who could help shoulder the risk."
Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue has not yet made up her mind about the project, said her spokesman Derek Chernow
"She probably will be taking comments from both sides up until the vote takes place," Chernow said. "She is still weighing comments from both sides."
Gov. Mike Easley, according to Associated Press reports, also told the university and the Centennial Campus committee to avoid a vote on the conference center without a private backer, although he called it a needed economic development tool.
