NCCU Mold Story in Top 10 for 2003

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http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-429295.html

A year of murder, mistakes and mold

FROM STAFF REPORTS : The Herald-Sunnews@...; 419-6630Dec 27, 2003 : 11:26 pm ET DURHAM -- Local news took deadly twists and lighter turns this year as the The Herald-Sun chronicled murder plots, government ineptitude and the hiring of a UNC mens' basketball coach, among other stories.

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The year's top 10 stories also included tales of corporate maneuvering and an unprecedented mold infestation at N.C. Central University.

3. NCCU mold infestation (219)

Mold infested more than a dozen buildings on N.C. Central University's campus, including two, 4-year-old dorms now closed for cleanup and some rebuilding.

The UNC system says it will cost more than $25 million to fix the problem. And NCCU is spending about $1 million a month to rent off-campus hotels and apartments for the students who should have been living in dorms. On top of that, the university still pays about $600,000 a month in debt service on the nearly new dorm buildings.

Many of the displaced students from the historically black school have been living at the Hilton on Hillsborough Road. That hotel's insistence that the students use the side door -- citing traffic concerns and an effort to keep the lobby cleared for more traditional hotel guests -- conjured uncomfortable images of segregation and the Jim Crow South.

Embarrassed, the Hilton's parent company, Interstate Hotels & Resorts, announced it would give a one-time, $40,000 scholarship to an in-state NCCU student and provide executives as guest lecturers for the school's new hospitality and tourism program. The students would also be allowed to use the front door. The company said it also would hire five student interns from NCCU each summer, actively recruit from the school and join NCCU's Business and Industry Cluster Program.

It turned out to be pretty powerful mold, and the story, like the mold, continued to grow as it took on political tones.

The UNC Board of Governors demanded more money from the Legislature to cure the problem as NCCU pleaded for more help, too. Saying the school had enough money to get started, Gov. Mike Easley announced that NCCU was moving too slowly and that his office and a state team would take over and solve the problem.

The designer of the two dormitories, Gantt Huberman Architects, is the firm of former Charlotte mayor and U.S. Senate candidate Harvey Gantt. The UNC Board of Governors recently said it intended to file suit, but the exact target or targets of the legal action were still unclear as the investigation into who was at fault continued.