HUNTINGTON, WV – After Monday’s unanimous vote by the Huntington (W. Va.) City Council to override the mayor’s veto, Marshall University will move forward on a $90 million construction project to build a new student recreation center and new residence halls, the Huntington Herald-Dispatch reported.

Mayor David Felinton had vetoed two ordinances that authorized the sale of two pieces of property to Marshall University for $10,000. Felinton said that Marshall’s appraisal of $10,000 was too low and that a second appraisal valued the properties at $184,000, according to the newspaper.

Menis Ketchum, chairman of Marshall’s Board of Governors, argued that Marshall’s appraisal was appropriate because the properties—including one behind an old church site for the student recreation center—were of no use to anyone but Marshall and that they could not be used for commercial use, the Herald-Dispatch reported.

The 123,000-square-foot recreation center is scheduled to open in January 2009.

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