DATE: Tuesday, March 11, 1997               TAG: 9703110291

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

DATELINE: SOUTHERN SHORES                   LENGTH:   29 lines

SOUTHERN SHORES OPENS CENTER TO TRAIN BUILDERS IN BLUE SKY STYLE

Local, state and federal officials dedicated the Kern P. Pitts Center as a construction center and model for Project Blue Sky.

Project Blue Sky is a voluntary, incentive-driven program designed to help business and government discover construction methods to make coastal homes stronger and safer.

North Carolina Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-Dare; Billy Ray Cameron, the state's assistant secretary for Crime Control and Public Safety, and Todd Davidson, director of mitigation for the Atlanta office of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, were on hand at the morning ceremonies.

Basnight praised the efforts of Southern Shores officials for the Blue Sky project.

``We must begin to build differently,'' Basnight said. ``Natural history recreates itself, and because of that, state government should write into law some protections for the coast. Blue Sky began because some people in Southern Shores believed in change. It is an example of government working together with other states, agencies and universities, together in a common cause.''

Blue Sky will help reduce storm damage for North Carolina, and across the nation, officials said.

Training classes on Blue Sky construction techniques will be held at the Pitts Center, named for the town's longtime mayor and civic leader.

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