Street lights are being installed on the N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis along the streets. This is light is on Biotechnology Lane which is the main entrance. photo by Wayne Hinshaw, Salisbury Post.

Landscaping on Biotechnology Lane includes flowers, trees, turf, and street lights near the main entrance. photo by Wayne HInshaw, Salisbury Post

UNC Nutrition Research Institute building is nearly complete with flowers, trees, turf, and street lights at 500 Laureate Way. photo by Wayne HInshaw, Salisbury Post

KANNAPOLIS — Street signs have gone up at the N.C. Research Campus just as landscaping is being completed.

Large, mature trees are being planted throughout the campus, in addition to smaller shrubs and flowering plants.

"They're ready to rock 'n' roll," Visitors Center host Steve Lambert says.

Billionaire David Murdock picked the street lights for the campus from Europe, Lambert says.

"This is his crown jewel," he says.

Construction on the Core Research Lab is still underway, but UNC-Chapel Hill's Nutrition Research Institute and NC State University's Fruit and Vegetable Science Institute now have addresses on Laureate Way.

The street signs are a recent addition.

Construction on those buildings, the first of many planned for the research campus, is expected to be completed soon.

Lambert says occupancy is expected in the UNC building starting Tuesday.

Murdock, owner of Dole Food Co., is building the 350-acre N.C. Research Campus in downtown Kannapolis on the former Cannon Mills Plant 1 complex.

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