The first tract of land was turned over to NC State University in 1984 by North Carolina Governor
James B. Hunt, Jr. The land was originally part of the state-owned mental health facility,
Dorothea Dix Hospital. Another was turned over to NC State in 1985 by Governor
James G. Martin. After the development of a Master Plan under the direction of Claude McKinney, dean of the School of Design, the first building was completed and occupied in 1989. The first corporate tenant, ABB, moved in during 1991. That same year, the College of Textiles moved to Centennial Campus. In 2000, the Centennial Biomedical Campus was established. Beginning in 2002, the College of Engineering began to relocate to Centennial Campus
Notable buildings The
James B. Hunt Jr. Library, which was completed in late 2012 and opened in January 2013, is the main library for Centennial Campus. The Hunt Library, named for former N.C. Governor
James B. Hunt Jr., was proposed partially to alleviate overcrowded conditions in university library spaces. It also houses an automated book retrieval system, called the "BookBot," and the Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI), a public-policy organization. The NC General Assembly approved funding for the new library in 2007. Also under construction is the Randall B. Terry, Jr. Companion Animal Veterinary Medical Center. The Keystone Centennial Science Center, a lab and office space complex, as well as Engineering Building III, were completed during the summer of 2010.
Funding sources for buildings Buildings on Centennial Campus are funded in four ways: (1) state-appropriated funds; (2) university revenue bonds; (3) private development and (4) private fund raising.
Awards Centennial Campus was named “Outstanding Research Park” in 2007 by the Association of University Research Parks (AURP) and has received worldwide recognition for its leadership in innovation through public-private partnerships. ==Colleges==