USC trustees at their April 20 meeting received a detailed briefing of a dramatic plan--publicly unveiled later that day--for developing 500 acres of Columbia's downtown along the Congaree River.

The massive streetscaping and beautification project, estimated to cost more than $100 million, will encompass USC's Innovista research district and include a 45-acre water park on land owned by the Guignard family. USC is working with the family to coordinate development of some of the land bounded by Assembly Street to the east, Gervais Street to the north, Catawba Street to the south, and the Congaree River to the west.

The scope of the project will require a partnership among government bodies, private developers and land owners, and the University, said representatives from Sasaki & Associates, the Boston-based architectural firm that has guided USC's campus master plan since the early 1990s.

Construction of the first phase of USC's Innovista campus already has begun with site work underway for two research buildings--one privately developed and the other built by USC--and a parking garage on the Horizon block bordered by Assembly, Blossom, Wheat, and South Main streets. Trustees approved a $1 million increase on that project for construction of a plaza between the two buildings. USC's building--currently called the Beta research facility--will house future fuels research.

In other business, trustees learned of a $2.9 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency to build a 9,500-square-foot education and training center at USC's North Inlet Estuarine Reserve, the field location for USC's Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Studies.

Trustees also were updated on plans to construct a new band/dance hall; major renovations and repairs to Gambrell Hall; purchase of 1321 Pendleton St., which currently houses the S.C. Institute for Archaeology and Anthropology; and repairs to the Jones Physical Sciences Center.

The board also approved a five-year contract with Trend Micro for new anti-spyware and antiviral software for USC's computer network. The University previously used McAfee antiviral software.

Trustees also OK'd the purchase of a rare collection of works by the 17th-century English author John Milton. USC will pay $500,000 toward the purchase; a private foundation will pay the remaining $500,000. A major exhibit of the collection is planned for 2008--the 300th anniversary of Milton's birth--in the soon-to-be-built Rare Books and Special Collections wing beside Thomas Cooper Library.

In other business, trustees approved the University's new five-year soft drink contract with Coca-Cola, which guarantees at least $412,000 per year for scholarship funding. CarolinaCard readers will be added to about 120 of USC's 229 drink vending machines. USC's previous contract was with Pepsi-Cola.

Trustees also approved new degree programs in engineering technology and management at USC Upstate; a bachelor's degree in information science at USC Columbia; and an option in security studies in USC Beaufort's liberal studies program. USC Beaufort also is planning to raise private support for introducing a bachelor of science degree in nursing.

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