Land swaps predicted to double SCC campus

By Lisa Majors-Duff

But their plans to expand the campus are not as simple as making an offer to a landowner and filing a deed. The property they are interested in is currently occupied by the N.C. Forest Service, the N.C. Department of Transportation and the county school system, making dealings significantly more complicated.

SCC President Cecil Groves and Vice President for Administrative Services George Stanley outlined the college's plans to expand for members of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners last week (Sept. 7).

Since the Forest Service cannot sell its land adjacent to the Jackson campus, college officials have offered to help relocate the agency to a nearly 10-acre site on U.S. 441, which the college plans to purchase from Henry Green with proceeds from the 1993 bond referendum. Stanley declined to comment on the proposed purchase price. Once the Forest Service moves, the current site would revert to the county, he said.

"It is our hope then that (the board of commissioners) would deed this land to our board of trustees," Stanley said.

Forest Service officials are pleased with plans for relocation, which would give them improved access to a four-lane highway and better radio transmission ability from the Cowee Tower, Stanley reported. The Forest Service will need to build a new headquarters building before they vacate the current site, he said.

The Forest Service property, at nearly 6.6 acres, is the largest piece of real estate desired by SCC. Next in size is the DOT property at nearly 4 acres and the school bus garage at 1.5 acres.

Negotiations for a land swap between the DOT and the county would involve the old County Home Cemetery, said Stanley. With more than 70 identified grave sites, a cemetery is located on a portion of the county land to be swapped to DOT. Plans call for DOT to swap its 4-acre parcel next to the college for the county's land, with exception of the cemetery, which DOT would then provide access to, Stanley said. Once the county holds title to this property, Stanley again requested that the deed be transferred to SCC.

In addition to the DOT and Forest Service property, SCC officials are also interested in acquiring the Jackson County school bus garage, which is proposed to move when Scotts Creek School is relocated to its new facility on Parris Branch. Talks are under way with the Jackson County Board of Education for this property, Stanley said.

Donations of both the DOT and school bus garage to SCC could be used as local matching dollars should the Higher Education Bond pass this November, Stanley said. With approval of the state's voters, the education bond would provide $10.4 million to SCC, with a required dollar-for-dollar match of local funds.

Though specific plans remain unclear, Groves said that about $6.2 million could be allocated for construction of classrooms and faculty offices, with $843,000 going to renovations and repairs of the Jackson campus.

A similar higher education bond passed in 1993 and provided SCC with funds they'd planned to use to construct a new library. Due to the terrain of the existing property, the project came in over budget twice, and college officials were forced to shelve the plan.

"That's when we looked at our master plan and realized we needed more land," Stanley said.

In addition to providing the Jackson campus with more buildable space, the land acquisitions would also double the amount of parking currently available, said Stanley.

A final piece of the expansion puzzle at SCC is farther in the future, Groves said. A route is being proposed to connect the campus with N.C. 107, which would alleviate traffic problems at the intersection of 107 and N.C. 116, an intersection also used by Smoky Mountain High School, the State Employees' Credit Union and Ingles supermarket.

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