Clemson may take lead in restoration of Hunley

COLUMBIA–Clemson wants to put its paw print on the North Charleston Hunley lab, and is negotiating to paint the town orange.

The city, the university and the state Hunley Commission are working out details of a plan that could lead to a 65-acre research and technology campus branching out from the Warren Lasch Conservation Center.

That would make the former Charleston Naval Base the hub of a restoration institute that ultimately could employ nearly 5,000 people and have a $500 million annual economic impact.

On Wednesday, the Hunley Commission approved the initial step in the deal, which would turn over the conservation lab to Clemson in exchange for the university funding the Confederate sub’s restoration.

“We have the opportunity now not only to complete the conservation of the Hunley but to help the academic future of South Carolina with a cutting-edge metallurgy and textiles restoration center,” said state Sen. Glenn McConnell, commission chairman. “This helps get us to the finish line.”

For the commission, which is charged with the care and management of the submarine, the deal would lock in money for the sub’s restoration, something the group is paying for with private donations and dwindling federal funds.

It gives the Friends of the Hunley and the commission more time and resources to devote to building a museum for the first submarine to sink an enemy ship in battle.

Clemson is a natural ally for the Hunley. The university has had a presence at the Hunley lab for years, helping scientists there with possible techniques to restore the 142-year-old iron submarine. McConnell said the university’s plans for expanding an already existing restoration institute and doing more work with material sciences fits in well with the commission’s desire for the Hunley lab to continue its conservation work long after the sub is in a museum.

If the deal goes through, Clemson would take over the lab with 90 full-time employees and a payroll of more than $5 million annually. The Hunley scientists would remain in their current jobs, and Friends of the Hunley would continue to raise money for the restoration and the sub’s eventual museum home.

According to Hunley Commission members, Clemson plans to eventually build a 65-acre campus that would create between 2,000 and 4,750 jobs with annual payrolls between $125.8 million and $286.3 million.

Tentative plans call for a number of new buildings that would generate between $1.7 million and $4 million a year in property taxes for North Charleston.

Clemson officials said the Hunley Commission is right to believe there is a chance of making the Navy base a national center for restoration and development of new technology.

“We think South Carolina is well-positioned to have a world-class materials conservation laboratory,” said Jan Schach, dean of Clemson’s College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities as well as director of the university’s restoration institute. “The Lasch Center would represent a major part of that.”

North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey said there are some sticking points to the deal, mostly how much of the Navy base land would be set aside for Clemson. Summey said those details could be worked out in the next week or so. City Council will discuss it in executive session tonight but won’t take any formal action.

“I just want to make sure the city is protected, to make sure it actually happens,” he said. “In principle, it’s great thing. I like the kind of industry that would come with it.”

McConnell said if Clemson takes charge of the lab and restoration efforts, he expects to have the vessel restored and ready for display in a permanent museum by 2009.

Members of the Hunley Commission, who unanimously approved of the deal, say this proves the worth of the conservation project.

“This sub had an impact on South Carolina in 1864, and it’s having one now, too,” said Commissioner Randy Burbage. “This is just another part of these men’s legacy.”