One part of today’s ballot that voters will decide on is the Connect NC project, a $2 billion bond referendum where nearly two-thirds go to funding higher education improvements, and $160 million would go directly to NC State.
The $160 million would go toward constructing the Engineering Oval and the Plant Sciences Initiative buildings on Centennial Campus. In addition, NC State has committed to raise nearly $145 million in private funds to complete these two projects. The university has already raised 50 percent of the total funding for the Engineering Oval Project from private-sector donations, as well as 30 percent of the total funding for the Plant Sciences Project.
No tax increase will be implemented to pay for the bonds.
The Engineering Oval Project, which would receive $75 million from the state, includes constructing a building between Engineering Building I and Hunt Library on Centennial Campus with new research and education facilities for the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. The building would also include new space for the college’s administrative offices.
This building would essentially complete the move of engineering from Central to Centennial Campus, excluding only the Department of Nuclear Engineering, which will remain in the Burlington Engineering Laboratories.
The Plant Sciences Project is slotted to receive $85 million from the state. It includes building a space primarily for graduate student and faculty research within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The space would be interdisciplinary, bringing together scientists from all aspects of plant-based agriculture to research and collaborate with agricultural research companies located in the Triangle.
“These two facilities are important to the future of this great university, and we are grateful to the governor and our legislators for their support. They understand the return on that investment, and the incredible, positive ramifications all of the projects in the Connect NC bond can have,” Chancellor Randy Woodson said in his Chancellor’s Letter.
UNC System president Margaret Spellings was among the individual donors to the bond and made a $1,000 contribution, along with Jim Goodnight, the co-founder and chief executive of SAS Institute in Cary who contributed $150,000. NC State’s foundation gave $160,000.
It is the first time a bond referendum will be included on the ballot since the 2000 election, when a $3.1 billion bond was passed by an overwhelming 73 percent of voters. That bond, with a higher sticker price, was also directed mainly toward North Carolina’s higher education institutions, as well as expansive road repair and maintenance. Since that bond was passed, 2 million people have moved to North Carolina.
The bond will also help community colleges, state parks, the North Carolina Zoo, the National Guard and rural water and sewer systems. More information on the Connect NC bond can be found at connect.nc.gov.
