Officials at University of North Carolina Wilmington have released information about the facility the university plans to build if the General Assembly passes, and voters approve, the Connect NC bond package originally requested by Gov. Pat McCrory.

Connect NC, for which the governor and other state officials have campaigned heavily in recent months, would provide funding for higher education capital improvements, water and sewer projects statewide, a new Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, improvements to National Guard facilities and a new Africa Pavilion at the N.C. Zoo, among other projects. The original $2.85 billion proposal has been whittled to $2 billion by legislators.

The state Senate version of the Connect NC Bond Act of 2015, which was adopted Tuesday in the Senate Finance Committee and Wednesday passed its second reading in the full chamber, would appropriate for a new facility for the university's College of Health and Human Services.

Shortly after noon Wednesday, UNCW spokeswoman Janine Iamunno issued a statement giving more detail on the proposed building.

"In keeping with the goal of increased access to quality health care, especially in rural areas, UNCW has developed a health and human services programs strategic plan that includes strong partnerships with practitioners and other UNC campuses," the statement read.

"Two of the four facilities envisioned by the plan to anchor the Health Sciences Quad have been funded," the statement continued. "This third, 165,000 square-foot facility would house academic programs in the College of Health and Human Services (Health and Applied Human Sciences; Nursing; and Social Work), the Center for Healthy Communities, veterans’ center, service learning center, and related labs and classrooms that are critical to UNCW’s ability to produce more health and human services professionals.‎ We are grateful to the General Assembly for the support of this new facility and are eager to share more details as plans continue to develop."

Iamunno noted that the building is not planned as a nursing building, although that term is used in the Bond Act.

UNCW is among 14 institutions within the UNC system for which Bond Act money is specifically appropriated in the Senate version of the bill. Cape Fear Community College and Brunswick Community College would receive almost $6 million and almost $2.9 million, respectively, for "new construction, repairs and renovations," according to the bill.

If the full Senate passes the bond bill, it will go to a joint House and Senate committee to reconcile differences in the two versions. If that version is passed in both chambers and signed by McCrory, the bond issue will be placed on the ballot in 2016. Originally it was thought the issue would be included on the November ballot next year, but the News & Observer has reported that some legislators favor placing it on the March primary ballot.