NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1981 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 1015

HOUSE BILL 273

 

 

AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR THE UNIVERSITY BOTANICAL GARDENS AT ASHEVILLE.

 

Whereas, the University Botanical Gardens, situated on 10 acres of State property on the grounds of The University of North Carolina at Asheville, is dedicated to the preservation and display of the native flora of North Carolina and the dissemination of botanical and ecological knowledge to the public at large; and

Whereas, the University Botanical Gardens has been developed and maintained over 20 years by the University Botanical Gardens at Asheville, Inc., a nonprofit association of public spirited citizens who have given of their volunteer labors and financial support since its inception in 1960, and has not heretofore received any appropriated monies for its support; and

Whereas, the gardens serve over 20,000 visitors annually, thirty percent (30%) of whom are tourists from the other 49 states, territories and many foreign countries; and

Whereas, these tourists and scheduled guided tours, classes, clubs, visiting botanists and others concerned with ecology can better be served with a reception center, equipped with herbarium displays and a meeting room, and manned by volunteer curators; and

Whereas, such a reception center can be a unique educational tool for the public schools of the region; and

Whereas, the University Botanical Gardens at Asheville, Inc., recognizing the need for a reception center building and an endowment for maintenance of it and of the gardens, has made plans for a building and has mounted a fund drive for three hundred seventy thousand dollars ($370,000) for the building and the endowment; and

Whereas, one hundred three thousand dollars ($103,000) has been committed for this purpose since the architect's design plans were received in 1980; Now, therefore,

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1. There is appropriated from the General Fund to The University of North Carolina Board of Governors the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for the 1981-82 fiscal year for a grant to the University Botanical Gardens at Asheville, Inc., for building a reception center.

Sec. 2. This act is effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 9th day of October, 1981.