CURI North Charleston Research Park

The goal of the Clemson University Restoration Institute (CURI) North Charleston Research Park is to drive economic growth by creating, developing, and fostering restoration industries and technology. The “restoration economy” — the revitalization of existing urban and natural areas through rehabilitation and redevelopment — cuts across a wide range of interests, from health to hydrology, from materials engineering to historic preservation.
 
Nationwide, 94 cents of every construction dollar is now spent on repairing or reviving existing infrastructure and landscapes. The restoration economy promises to be one of the most lucrative economic sectors of the 21st century. It offers enormous economic opportunities for South Carolina, both in terms of private and public investment within the state and the export of restoration knowledge capital throughout the world.
 
CURI's North Charleston Research Park will bring together materials manufacturing, complex assembly and successful mixed land use, for which North Charleston is known, with attributes of the city of Charleston, the nation's leading laboratory for cultural and structural preservation. The research park will offer laboratories and facilities that will serve as magnets for public-private partnerships, private development, spin-off companies, and other research and development agencies interested in restorative activities.
 
The first phase of the project--the development of a master plan--will begin in summer 2008. Short-term objectives include renovation of two existing buildings for historical preservation and maximum value as space for research, education and administration.  Long-term plans call for construction of other buildings to house commercial tenants, historic preservation and restoration partner facilities, as well as other members of the restoration community.
 


Page maintained by: Sonya R. Albury-Crandall, salbury@clemson.edu