"One of my first meetings in January 1993 shortly after I tookoffice as county executive was with Governor Engler to discuss thepurchase of the CVC property," says Oakland County Executive L.Brooks Patterson. "This final chapter in a long and arduous processculminates eight years of tough negotiations with the state ofMichigan but secures our future growth needs for the next 30years."

Patterson also pointed out that the county is rapidly runningout of room to expand on its current 396-acre site. The countygovernment campus, like the county itself, has experiencedtremendous growth over the past 30 or 40 years. In 1951, forinstance, only seven buildings totaling 216,000 sf occupied countyproperty. Today there are 32 buildings occupying 1.6 million sf andseven more buildings off-site providing 200,000 additional sf.

There are no immediate plans to use the newly acquired property,but it will be available to accommodate the county's future growthneeds well into this century. Pontiac's mayor, Walter Moore, hasbeen criticized for failing to act to buy the property. The citywas offered first refusal rights, but did not make an offer duringthis year's deadline. Many residents had protested the demolitionand sale of the former state mental institution, one of the lastsuch institutions in Michigan.