Sunday, August 29, 2010 — There is a saying in the real estate business that the top three items to consider when buying property are location, location, location.

The same could be said when locating a community college, especially your community college here in Stanly County.

Today, our campus, located on the western fringe of Albemarle, sits on a hill with a magnificent view. I know that because I get to enjoy the stunning southern and western views every day from my office in the southwestern corner of the Patterson Building.

However, if one of the first acts of the original board of trustees had come to pass, then the view from this office would be entirely different.  As it turns out, the current site of the college, which is one of the best locations of any community college in our system (you realize I am not biased in making that statement), was at least the third choice for land in 1971 to locate the newly created technical institute. It was truly a serendipitous journey for SCC to end up at our current location on West Main Street.

Stanly Technical Institute was chartered on July 15, 1971, as the 57th community college in what is a 58 college system.  The original premise behind funding our North Carolina community college system was the state would invest in the instructional operations of the college, paying salaries for faculty and staff and furnishing supplies and equipment, while the county government would supply operational funds. That philosophy holds true today as well.

Accordingly, the county commissioners in 1971 had to provide a location for the newly created technical institute and then funds to build facilities. On Sept. 29, 1971, in its inaugural meeting, the newly appointed Board of Trustees for Stanly Tech made some important decisions.  After being sworn in by Stanly County Clerk of Court, Joe Lowder, the board elected Annie Ruth Kelley board chair.  

During that same meeting, the trustees passed their first resolution ever asking the county commissioners “to earmark and designate as a site for the permanent location of a college campus that tract and parcel of land generally known as the Stanly Rest Home property, which is located on the east side of Old Salisbury Road about two miles north of the city limits of Albemarle.” This is the area where today you will find Britthaven Nursing Home.

Since that first action, the Board of Trustees at your community college have had better luck with its resolutions because that first one went nowhere, which turns out to be a good thing for the college.

Kelley recalls that finances were one reason to seek property the county already owned.

“The board was thinking there would be some savings to the county if existing land could be used and perhaps those funds could help with funding a new building,” Kelley said recently.

The trustees held discussions with the commissioners regarding the site, but there were competing forces at work and the county needed the property for other ventures.

County Commissioner minutes do not mention the property issue until June 5, 1972, when the 1972-1973 budget for STI was considered and STI President Dr. Charlie Byrd and trustee Wallace Martin requested designation of the county rest home property as a permanent STI location.

The following week at a June 11, 1972, commissioners’ meeting the issue was discussed and according to the minutes, county attorney R.L. Brown Jr., “advised against” giving the land to the trustees. That is the only notation in commissioner minutes regarding the Old Salisbury Road as a possible location for STI.

With the Old Salisbury Road location off the table, the trustees considered other possible locations, one being property directly adjacent on our eastern boundary today.  

Attempts to purchase that property failed because of price issues, according to charter trustee Gene Pickler.  Another charter trustee, Lane Brown III, also recalled there were other issues with the property, including a major utility line and also the possibility of having to relocate a road.

The third choice was the current site, which at the time was land owned by Malcolm Palmer. Then county commissioner and current college trustee Dr. Davis Fort recalls that he walked the Palmer property before the purchase.

“It was just a beautiful piece of property and you could just tell it would be a great location for the college,” Dr. Fort said.

The county purchased 49.09 acres from the Palmers and on Oct. 30, 1973 that land was conveyed to Stanly Technical Institute through a deed for the price of $1. The Palmer’s used the property for a poultry operation that included a number of chicken houses “on the hill.”

There is a saying about the third choice being a charm. For us it was. Today there is little evidence of the past use of this property. If you know where to look in the trees on the front of the campus you can see where the old road to the top of the hill was located.

Several years ago when we were moving dirt for a new parking lot in front of the Patterson Building, the construction crew came upon some “artifacts” from the chicken operation that covered the hill in the early 1970s.

Almost four decades later, your community college has 138 acres at your Albemarle campus, with seven major facilities, where several thousand students a semester attend classes.

The campus is a hub of activity for other county groups as well, including the soccer fields on our “front lawn” that are leased to the city recreation department. Annually, these fields draw thousands of young soccer players and their parents to soccer matches.

In addition, the campus is the location of a satellite station for the Albemarle Police Department while the Dennis Auditorium and Dennis Community Room are used by numerous organizations and groups for meetings and special events.

To go with our original site, SCC has a 10-acre campus in Locust, the Crutchfield Campus, at another prime location.

Over the last 39 years the college has added land on six other occasions to constitute the 138 acres on your campus today but it is interesting, though, to think how things might have been different if that original request for property on Old Salisbury Road had been granted.



On a monthly basis, SCC President Dr. Michael Taylor writes a column about the college and its impact on the community.