Decision time
Central Michigan University Trustees have an opportunity Thursday to advance a land area that has sat dormant for far too long.
The last time the trustees met on May 16 they were uninformed about the six-story hotel and office development proposal on south campus's Center for Applied Research and Technology. The board had only known about the project for 23 days and it was too much of an undertaking at the time.
And two months later, it still might not be the right time. But a decision needs to be made on Thursday.
LaBelle Management believes it had an understanding that it would be the only developers for the hospitality portion of the CART. It already owns two hotels that operate directly on CART property - Comfort Inn and Fairfield Inn and Suites, as well as Bennigan's Grill & Tavern.
Other private developers say the placement of the hotel takes away from the private sector. Other individuals say the CART has failed in its purpose to attract and stimulate growth of high-tech businesses and should be turned over to the private sector to be bid upon.
Any one of them could have proposed the project to CMU, and the precedent has already been set for this type of project.
Why oppose a new hotel? In fact, it would allow university students and faculty to work in a greater capacity than the existing properties.
LaBelle simply does not want this development on CART land for the competition it would present for its two hotels next door - which are popular with visiting families, sports teams and prospective students.
LaBelle should be commended for the large contributions it has made over the years to the university - both monetary and academically. Its presence has greatly impacted the university's advancement.
But it does not hold exclusivity. Such a deal would be unrealistic.
The vision of the park is changing under new leadership - the high-technology-only point of view is being replaced with a more feasible view. CMU Research Corporation President and CEO Ken Van Der Wende wants to take the park back to its roots - economic development.
But is a university's role to stimulate the local economy?
The new hotel would undoubtedly set the precedent for future park tenants - academic association with the university. Lodgco President and CEO Michael Smith, a 1988 CMU alumnus, has worked cooperatively with the university to set up a building that would not only be a place to stay, but a tool to expand the College of Business Administration.
Right now, the park does not have much of that. It has drifted through the years, creating an invisible boundary between the rest of CMU across West Campus Drive.
The CART doesn't come across as a functioning part of the university. A functioning state-of-the-art hotel where students and faculty could work in conjunction with the staff would set an example for what it hopes to obtain.
But the trustees still have a decision to make - we urge them to make one Thursday so the project can either move forward or elsewhere, and CMU's administrative staff can focus on improving main campus.
