Research campus may spark $500 million industry

Little did the sailors aboard the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley know that in the 21st century their vessel could launch a Lowcountry sustainability industry that in the long-term could generate a $500 million annual economic impact on South Carolina.

The Hunley, which is being restored in North Charleston’s Warren Lasch Conservation Center on the former Navy base, will become the centerpiece of the forthcoming Clemson University Restoration Institute, an 80-acre research campus on the base.

The institute will include the Warren Lasch Conservation Center and its 15 surrounding acres, which North Charleston will transfer to Clemson. The university will build a 65-acre campus across from the conservation center.

Clemson officials say work on the Hunley, which involves restoration of metals, fabrics and other materials, could lead to a local sustainability industry in which researchers discover technologies that make building materials longer lasting, environmentally and ecologically safe, and buildings themselves more energy and cost effective—the cornerstones of sustainability.

“Restoration sciences is a broad field,” said Jan Schach, dean of Clemson’s School of Architecture, Arts and Humanities. “It includes urban ecology—for example, integrating wetlands and green spaces to restore brownfields. It includes storm water management.”

In his 2002 book The Restoration Economy, author Storm Cunningham, executive director of the Alexandria, Va.-based Restoration Institute, an international consortium of businesses, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations and government leaders devoted to community renewal and natural resource restoration, claimed restoration is a $2 trillion a year industry worldwide. Restoration is the backbone of a sustainable economy, according to Cunningham.

Clemson and the Noisette Co., which is leading North Charleston’s 20-year revitalization plan from the Navy base, are members of the Revitalization Institute.

“This fits into the state’s need to develop businesses clusters as Michael Porter recommended,” said Ray Anderson, special assistant to North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey.

At the state’s 2003 Economic Outlook Conference in Columbia, Porter, a Harvard Business School professor, urged South Carolina to develop clusters of related businesses so the state could compete economically with other states and other countries.

The project’s first phase will last up to five years, produce 90 full-time jobs with an annual payroll of roughly $5.3 million and generate an overall economic impact of $9.5 million to the local economy, according to Clemson officials.

When completed, the entire research park will create between 2,000 and 4,750 jobs, with an annual payroll between an estimated $125.8 million and $286.3 million. These new jobs will generate an annual economic impact of between $226 million and $515 million on South Carolina.

The campus’ potential tax revenue is estimated between $1.75 million and about $4.1 million.

Clemson’s first step is to expand the Warren Lasch Conservation Center to accommodate a larger staff and handle more restoration projects, Schach explained.

Expansion would cost about $3 million. The money would come from a $10.3 million grant Clemson recently received from the state’s Research Centers for Economic Excellence Act, which provides construction funding for Clemson, the University of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina.

“Clemson is a gift for us,” said Paul Mardikian, senior conservator for the Hunley. “When you get to this level of complexity, you need to bring materials science experts into conservation. Clemson has that expertise.”