North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) visited UNC Charlotte on Friday, Aug. 2, where he discussed the $45 million in the legislative-passed budget for the renovations of the Burson and Cameron buildings. Moore was joined by a great showing of legislative leaders including Reps. Jason Saine ’95, Dean Arp ’99, John Torbett, Craig Horn, Linda Johnson and Sen. Dan Bishop, according to a release from UNC Charlotte.
UNC Charlotte Board of Trustee member Teross Young ’93 and Provost Joan Lorden welcomed Moore to campus. Speaker Moore and the legislators heard about the importance of renovating the Burson and Cameron buildings to increase lab and classroom space for fast-growing fields including STEM, computing and informatics, engineering and other physical sciences. The group also visited the site of the new $90 million science building currently under construction, funded by the Connect NC bond passed during Moore’s first term as speaker of the North Carolina House in 2016. The building, scheduled to open in 2021, will have 130,000 square feet of flexible classroom and laboratory space.
In March, the NinerTimes reported that North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper visited campus to tour the Burson and Cameron buildings. Governor Cooper also came to campus April 30 and May 1 in the aftermath of the UNC Charlotte school shooting.
In March, more than 30 state legislators attended a dinner hosted by Chancellor Philip L. Dubois and the Board of Trustees in Raleigh, North Carolina. At the time, the University was seeking funding for renovations of the Cameron and Burson buildings as well as enrollment growth funding and salary increases for faculty and staff. Dubois reiterated these priorities at the dinner with state leaders.
“It was very heartening to see the passion and excitement of our regional legislators for UNC Charlotte and I was greatly encouraged by their support of our priorities.” said Dubois.
