[The Rumor Mill]

Here is the latest news from Carbon Motors: http://www.carbonmotors.com/blog/38/The-DEADLINE-nears

Unfortunately, the news story didn't say if there was any interest from GM or not. Sounded like it was mostly upstate leaders trying to court GM to this area though due to being business friendly, having a fairly large automotive sector, and being home to no unions.

If GM is interested in Greenville, I'm concerned about the fact that the latest restructuring scenario being shown in the news involves the vast majority of the "new" GM being owned by the government (currently very pro-union) and a UAW health care trust. Being a haven from unions may not be a good thing...but let's hope so anyway.

[CU-ICAR/Millennium Campus]

Hi hodgie, since you work at ICAR, do you know if the rooftop patio / garden can be rented out for small professional events by non ICAR companies? Unique perspective / view from there.

I've never heard anything about renting it out, but I suppose its possible. There have been quite a few gatherings put on in the Carolina First Gallery in the past, so I would think that something might be able to be worked out for the patio as well...just a guess, though.

[CU-ICAR/Millennium Campus]

Who knows, maybe they were meant to go in originally and it was the installers' fault? Or, they wanted to wait out construction to prevent damage and it was planned all along? Nonetheless, if lots of additional costs are being added it could definitely get out of hand. The great thing though, is that ICAR has been developed in a first class way. It should all pay off, too, with more companies investing at the campus. This will translate to construction jobs before most likely becoming high-paying permanent jobs. Without cutting corners, I think we'll possibly see even great results!

I think anyone would have to look long and hard to find something remotely like CU-ICAR. This isn't your boring office park or complex.

I'm not knocking the concept behind ICAR, nor am I against it being developed as a first-class facility...afterall, I work there, and owe my livelihood to its existence. But, as I posted previously, there have been a lot of things that seem to have been extremely wasteful throughout the process. For example, as I write this there is a crew with jackhammers and sledgehammers working to tear down a section of a wall for the monolith/campus garden along I-85 (BTW, what the "monolith" part will be is apparently still TBD), which was poured on/about Monday. I'm sure that there's a perfectly legitimate reason for them to do so, but they don't seem to be in any hurry to get it finished. I'm not accusing anyone of anything, I just can't help buy wonder how much oversight has been involved in these projects.

[CU-ICAR/Millennium Campus]

Noticed a cool little detail while biking through ICAR this morning. The Clemson tiger paw is etched into randomly spaced bricks and pavers throughout the first collaboration neighborhood. Only about 2 inches, they are easy to miss. When I started to search, found they are everywhere....just very random. Kinda cool detail.

I agree that they're a cool little detail, but I shudder to think how much cost was involved. These pavers were put in after the fact, meaning that there were "plain" pavers in their places before, then workers came back in, removed the plain pavers and replaced them with these. This is probably relatively minor item, but when you see this kind of thing go on here at ICAR day-after-day, you start to wonder why...

[CU-ICAR/Millennium Campus]

Does anyone know what the white pieces along the interstate are? They almost look like pvc piping. One set is put together in a fence-like fashion (a very rough resemblance at that) and the other is taller. If you haven't seen it, then this probably makes no sense at all...

Anyway, I was wondering if maybe this has to do with the rumored 'spire' that would mark CU-ICAR's presence along 85. I figured that would be what the taller pvc structure is representing, and the other is where a wall will go that will carry the campus' name?? Other wise, I can't figure it out.

I work at CU-ICAR, and the explanation I got was that the PVC structures are mockups of two possible "icons" for the campus, and that there are folks traveling up and down I-85 looking at them to see which they like best. I'm not sure if the initially proposed spire is still in the running or not.