[Vision2020] Sandpoint Could Get UI Branch

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (February 14, 2007) Spokesman Review -

Not bad for a university that some self-serving BLogs claim is experiencing
a slow death, huh?

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Sandpoint could get UI branch 
Foundation offers funding

Shawn Vestal 
Staff writer
February 14, 2007

A foundation run by the founder of Coldwater Creek has quietly proposed
spending $20 million to establish a University of Idaho campus in Sandpoint
- something civic leaders have long sought.

Though the proposal is in preliminary stages, the nonprofit Wild Rose
Foundation and the UI have drafted a memorandum of understanding that will
go before the Idaho State Board of Education on Feb. 22. The proposal
envisions the creation of "a unique model for education and research on a
local, state and national level," with classes and research programs
beginning in 2010.

"It would certainly be a tremendous benefit to the community," said
Sandpoint Mayor Ray Miller on Tuesday. "It's going to have a major impact."

Both the university and the foundation had little to say about the
agreement, beyond emphasizing that it's still in the conceptual stage and
must receive support from the Board of Education before moving forward.

The campus proposed in the draft document would include programs ranging
from general education to environmental science. 

The proposal also foresees the inclusion of North Idaho College programs.
Having a college in Sandpoint could help with work force training, teacher
recertification, research industries and other initiatives, supporters say.

The foundation would buy the land and build the facilities for the UI
programs, with an eventual transfer of ownership to the university,
according to the preliminary agreement. 

It would also offer land to the Lake Pend Oreille School District for the
construction of a high school, if the district could come up with funding.

The Wild Rose Foundation, a nonprofit foundation started in 2005, approached
the UI with the proposal, according to documents released by the university
this week in response to a public records request. 

News of the deal was first reported Saturday in the Bonner County Daily Bee.

The directors of the foundation are Dennis Pence, Karen Pence and Rosalind
Holland, according to the Idaho secretary of state's office. 

Dennis Pence is chairman and CEO of Coldwater Creek, the clothing operation
he founded in 1984 as a catalog business. The company has seen booming
growth in sales and profits in recent years, and Business Week listed it
last year as one of the 100 "Hot Growth Companies" in the country. 

Dennis Pence was out of the country on Tuesday, a representative of
Coldwater Creek said. 

But in a written statement, the foundation said that it had been formed to
benefit the "quality of life for citizens of Bonner County," with education
as a key focus.

"To determine how it might facilitate increased access to educational
opportunities for area residents, the foundation has conducted ongoing
communication with various educational institutions for some time and has
found the University of Idaho to be a helpful partner in discussing ways to
improve higher education in the region," the statement said.

"While the foundation is very encouraged by these early phases of
discussion, many details remain to be addressed and further information will
be made available to the public as the process moves forward."

Plan at a glance 
The document outlines a plan that includes several steps:

.The UI would sell 77 acres it owns across from the airport in Sandpoint to
the foundation for $6.25 million. Wild Rose would spend at least $20 million
to build facilities and infrastructure on the northern part of that parcel
and would own the land until its eventual transfer to the UI.

.Most of the proceeds from the land sale would go into an endowment to help
fund operations at the Sandpoint campus.

.The foundation would give the UI 15 acres that are part of an 80-acre
parcel "owned by a related party to Wild Rose" on North Boyer Avenue near
Sandpoint.

.Wild Rose and the UI would create an advisory board to oversee what
programs are needed and implemented.

.The foundation would also offer a portion of the 77-acre parcel to the Lake
Pend Oreille School District for a new high school campus.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

Came a tribe from the north brave and bold . . .

"Here We Have Idaho"
http://www.tomandrodna.com/HWHI.mp3

"I-D-A-H-O Idaho Idaho Go Go Go"
http://www.tomandrodna.com/Vandals.mp3