Appalachian State
University will soon have a residence in Washington, D.C. again,
as a contract has been ratified for a new Appalachian House.
“This means that the owners have accepted our last offer,”
said Jane P. Helm, vice chancellor for business affairs. “We
made an earlier offer and they refused, so we made another offer
at the asking price. We’ve had an inspection done, we have
to get permits for the legal means to use this house, it’s
basically the normal closing process.”
The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the month and
will cost Appalachian $1.1 million, Helm said.
“I’m delighted we’ve been able to re-establish a
presence up there,“ said Wilber H. Ward, associate vice chancellor
for academic affairs. “It’s a wonderful research opportunity,
it’s a great opportunity for students to go up with classes
and spend three or four days looking at political, artistic, cultural
life. Not many universities of Appalachian’s size can say they
own facilities in Washington D.C. and New York City.”
Academic Affairs is responsible for maintaining the house, while
Business Affairs has handled the negotiations for the house, Ward
said.
“The formal transfer will probably happen at the end of the
month, but there have been some complications.
“There are several tenants renting in the house right now,”
Ward said.
“We’re in the process of negotiating with the current
tenants to find them a place to live in so we can use the facility
fully. We hope to start operations around the first of the year,”
Ward said.
The new Appalachian House, located on North Carolina Avenue about
six blocks from the capitol building, is an antebellum house with
three stories and a basement floor, according to information provided
by the Office of Business Affairs.
Since 1978, Appalachian’s previous Appalachian House provided
a place in Washington D.C. where students and faculty could stay
while in the area.
Over the summer, Appalachian lost their lease on the old Appalachian
House, which prompted the search for a new building.
This time, Appalachian will own the house outright, Ward said.
“The old facility had really become run down, and because we
didn’t own it, because we were leasing it, there wasn’t
as much incentive for us to spend money to renovate it and keep
it up,” Ward said.
“So losing the old lease may have been the best thing that
could have happened to us,” he said. “Now we’ll own
our own space, we won’t be dependent on someone else.” |
