Editor’s note: News Molecules are designed to give readers occasional tidbits of information about the N.C. Research Campus.
By Emily Ford
Salisbury Post
KANNAPOLISóDavidson College and Appalachian State University are talking to top leaders at the N.C. Research Campus about roles they might play in Kannapolis.
Davidson President Tom Ross has the ear of Dr. Steve Leath, vice president for research for the University of North Carolina system, who has an office in Kannapolis. They met Tuesday.
Davidson College would not have a physical presence on campus like Duke University and six schools in the UNC system.
“But we are very interested in having their undergraduates on campus,” Leath said.
Davidson wants to establish an internship program for its junior and senior science majors, Leath said.
Researchers in the Kannapolis labs will need that labor force.
“We don’t have undergraduates readily available here,” Leath said.
Appalachian, on the other hand, wants access to state-of-the-art equipment for its faculty and graduate students. ASU has research programs in disease prevention and nutrition, the areas of focus at the research campus.
Leath has talked with ASU about using the Core Lab, the centerpiece of the 350-acre biotechnology park expected to open this summer.
Leath and Lynne Scott Safrit, president of campus developer Castle & Cooke, will visit ASU next month “to see what the best fit would be,” Leath said.
Price tag too high for health department
Castle & Cooke made a formal offer to the Cabarrus Health Alliance Tuesday night during a closed session of the health department board.
The news wasn’t good for the Health Alliance, which wants to buy space in a future medical office building on campus.
Castle & Cooke’s price of $267 per square foot means the health alliance would need close to $20 million to buy and then upfit 50,000 square feet, Director Dr. William F. Pilkington said.
“We don’t have that kind of money,” he said.
The health alliance will receive $15 million from publicly financed bonds. To qualify, the agency must own a building on or close to the research campus.
Pilkington will continue negotiating with Castle & Cooke.
“I’m going to ask them if there’s any room for negotiation,” he said. “If they say no, then that’s it.”