FAYETTEVILLE — A committee of the University of Arkansas System’s board of trustees on Thursday approved plans by its flagship campus to buy more than 68,500 square feet of space on Fayetteville Square for the Pryor Center.
Final approval for a $2.7 million contract for the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville’s desired purchase of the One East Center Condominium Horizontal Property Regime awaits a decision from the full UA board of trustees, which meets today beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the Fayetteville campus’s Arkansas Union, Rooms 507-511.
The sale will also hinge on a title commitment at the seller’s cost, subject to review and opinion by the UA System’s legal staff.
Fayetteville campus Chancellor G. David Gearhart told the trustees’ buildings and grounds committee Thursday afternoon the thinking behind the location, which is off campus but within a few blocks of the university.
“We’d like it to be in a visible area,” the chancellor said of the David and BarbaraPryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History.
UA-Fayetteville would use its property-purchase reserves to acquire the building from One East Center LLC, according to system documents, the $2.7 million price tag being “within appraised value.”
They also show the breakdown of the 68,546 square feet as being 40,163 in commercial space, 15,237 in “pro-rata” limited commercial space and 13,146 in “pro-rata” unlimited commercial space.
“We believe it’s a good deal for the university,” Gearhart told the committee. “The total being 39 dollars and some change per square foot.”
In an Oct. 22 memo, dated the same day as the proposed sale contract, UA System President Donald Bobbitt told thecommittee the Fayetteville campus had been looking into buying the property “for some time” because of its prominent position on Fayetteville Square.
Pryor is a former U.S. senator who served 18 years beginning in 1979 and also served as Arkansas’ governor.
The Fayetteville campus founded the center in 1999 with the help of Pryor and his wife, Barbara Pryor. In November of that year, the Pryors donated $220,000 in unspent campaign funds that served as initial start-up support for the center.
It was originally named the Arkansas Center for Oral and Visual History, with a mission of documenting Arkansans’ stories and memories of their state. Pryor said at the time that he was inspired to establish it after once perusing the collection of the late U.S. Sen. Russell Long, D-La., onthe campus of Louisiana State University.
In May 2005, the center benefited from a $2 million endowment gift from the Don Tyson family.
Pryor, a UA trustee and a member of the buildings and grounds committee, participated in Thursday’s meeting via a telephone linkup from Little Rock. He told his fellow committee members he was recusing himself from this vote, emphasizing that he wanted this on record in the meeting minutes.
Also Thursday, the committee granted Gearhart’s request for the Fayetteville campus to grant easements to the city of Fayetteville for the Town Branch Trail it is constructing, which will cut through the university’s Arkansas Research and Technology Park in south Fayetteville.
The 2.8-mile trail would connect to an existing trail atRazorback Road.
The campus would grant the city access on two parcels if the full board approves.
And the trustees on the buildings and grounds committee also gave the go-ahead, pending full board approval, to UA-Fayetteville’s desire to buy properties at 1220 and 1236 Cleveland St. near the campus’s northwestern corner for use as student parking.
The land currently has a 60-unit apartment complex and a single-family home on it, according to system records.
Gearhart said the university tried to buy the property several years ago but thought the asking price was too high at the time.
“That would give us considerable acreage there for our students,” Gearhart said, adding that he is also asking for authority to proceed with eminent domain should attempts at a negotiated purchase fail.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 11/02/2012