The Charleston Gazette August 3, 2011 WVSU eyes bonds to build downtown media center By Jim Balow CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Unable to raise private donations for its proposed downtown media center, West Virginia State University now hopes to build the long-delayed $11 million project by borrowing money. "It's out of necessity," WVSU Vice President John Berry said Wednesday. "Philanthropic dollars don't come easy in today's economy, especially for bricks and mortar." Berry told Charleston Urban Renewal Authority board members the school plans to apply for $11 million in bonds through the U.S. Department of Education's HBCU Capital Financing Program -- a pool of money set aside for historically black colleges and universities like WVSU. In December 2006, WVSU President Hazo Carter and former dean David Wohl unveiled plans to build a downtown center for its graduate media studies program. At the urging of Mayor Danny Jones and enthusiast Terry Pickett, CURA board members agreed to donate an 18,000-square-foot site at the corner of Capitol and Smith streets, near Capitol Market. Since then, a series of WVSU officials have returned to CURA, outlining plans to raise funds and requesting extensions in the deadline to start construction. Berry outlined a plan in February to seek $8 million in federal bonds and seek $2 million in gifts from foundations and private sources. Those efforts went nowhere, he said. "No money was raised. Dr. Carter made a decision to move on the project entirely through bonds." The school hopes to submit its application by next month, he said. "The bond process through the Department of Education takes 60 to 90 days." "We have also gone through a stress test with Moody's," a bond rating agency, Berry said. "That went fairly well. Our bond exposure is not as large as other institutions." WVSU has about $4.5 million in earlier bonds to pay off, including a previous $3.5 million bond through the HBCU program, Berry said. Also Wednesday, CURA Director Jim Edwards discussed a new initiative for buying and rehabilitating under-used properties on the West Side and East End. In executive session, he identified several sites along Washington and Dixie streets. "These are potential acquisitions I'm presenting to the board, properties that need new life," Edwards said after the meeting. Edwards, who took over as director in early May, said he found the sites after touring the neighborhoods "and seeing areas in need, seeing the need and maybe seeing properties that are available, because we don't want to get into contentious situations. "We need to look at additional properties, both east and west, but we need to do this with a plan as to how we would dispose of them, as opposed to holding onto them over time." The goal, he said, is to "focus on reuse and less on demolition." In other business, CURA board members:  Agreed to give $930 to Capitol Market as a 10 percent grant match to fix a drainage problem. Market Director Tammy Borstnar said rainwater has been flowing off the brick service road near the north parking lot into the covered pavilion where farmers sell their goods.  Discussed changes to the agency's personnel policy handbook. Board member Diane Strong-Treister said compensatory time for overtime does not need to be taken during the same period, as in the private sector. She proposed the comp time be taken during the same fiscal year, so that employees can't accumulate leave time before retirement. Board members hope to adopt the new language next month. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 Skype:sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.