Published: July 22, 2008 03:58 pm            

Agreement that would have led to WVU Charleston Research Campus is canceled

MORGANTOWN — The agreement for the West Virginia University Research Corporation to accept donated land and buildings from Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, has been mutually canceled by both parties, and the agreement will not close as previously planned, the university announced in a press release last week.

The donation would have established the WVU Charleston Research Campus (WVUCRC). It consisted of the donation of 58 acres of property located at UCC’s Technology Park and several R&D laboratories within a 125,000-square-foot building currently in use as a multi-tenant Research and Development incubator.

WVU officials had hoped to move the engineering program from WVU Tech into the facility, with the program and its students as the linchpin of the operation.

Gov. Joe Manchin announced in January 2006 during his second State of the State address that WVU Tech’s Leonard C. Nelson College of Engineering would be moved to the technology park in South Charleston. Working jointly with WVU and Marshall University, the existing park was expected to morph into a nationally recognized education, research and development center, the governor said. He added the park would function as a division of WVU’s College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, and WVU Tech would become a separate entity once again, merging its remaining four-year programs with two-year programs.

“This reconstituted WVU Tech at Montgomery will be able to grow and continue its commitment to meeting regional education and workforce training needs,” he said.

“This new park will be a significant part of West Virginia’s answer to years of a declining manufacturing base, and several research companies are already interested in locating resources and activities here.”

Some wags joked the outcry in Montgomery could be heard by Manchin in the House chambers at the Capitol, from which he delivered the State of the State address.

The backlash was immediate and it was strong, with Tech alumni around the state and the country speaking out against the proposal to move the engineering department from the Montgomery campus, where it once flourished as one of the nation’s top programs.

Opponents of the proposal, operating under the auspices of “Take Back Tech,” took to the Capitol steps during the 2006 legislative session, armed with banners, buttons, and petitions sporting thousands of signatures of those against the move. Both the House of Delegates and the Senate introduced bills during the session to deal with the Tech matter, one of which would have completely separated Tech from WVU, and another, which eventually was approved, fully making Tech a division of WVU.

Less than two months after his proposal was announced in the 2006 State of the State address, the governor backtracked, saying the Dow project would continue in collaboration with the WVU engineering program. Then-Tech President Charles Bayless, a graduate of the school, announced it had been his idea to move the engineering program to South Charleston.

The donation agreement was signed by UCC and WVURC on Aug. 20, 2007, with an initial closing date set for Oct. 31, 2007. The date was extended with the final deadline set for July 11, 2008. On July 10, the decision was made to cancel the agreement after much due diligence because insurance requirements satisfactory to both the Research Corporation’s needs and obligations and to UCC could not be obtained.

Both parties are disappointed that the agreement will not close as expected. WVU will continue to support other appropriate efforts in the Kanawha Valley and will concentrate on implementing a strategic plan for energy research in Morgantown. UCC will include this property in its strategy development for the transition of the Technology Park.

        

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