The resolution passed unanimously, with an abstention from the Rev. David Cannon, who opposed the consolidation at the Mahan Drive site.

"I believe the college is 100 percent ready for this approval," Three Rivers President Grace Jones said. "We believe closure is here."

Monday's resolution approves the state Commissioner of Public Works to begin the project design -- which includes preparatory studies of the site as well as finding an architect -- for the consolidation.

Request for funds

The board's next step will be to request additional funds from the state as the state Office of Policy and Management estimates the Mohegan campus project would cost $72.2 million, $10 million more than the state originally bonded for the project in the mid-1990s. Those funds will be included in the board's 2004-08 five-year capital plan as well as the 2004-05 fiscal year capital budget request.

While the approval marks a step for Three Rivers constituents, Lenell Kittlitz, director of facilities planning, recognized "we will not actually be able to start this for several years."

The recommendation came less than three weeks after an OPM report named the Mohegan campus as having the greatest potential for consolidation. That report looked at the 12 sites -- including three downtown -- that have been proposed since 1994, when trustees first approved the consolidation of the college's two campuses.

"It seems to me rather ironic that in 1994 the thought was to do this on the Mohegan campus. So, we have gone full circle," said trustee William Johnson, who last week voted against the recommendation at a budget and facilities subcommittee meeting.

In December, the board of trustees voted to name the Thames Valley campus on New London Turnpike as the preferred site, contingent upon positive results from environmental and traffic studies. But those studies were canceled soon after when Gov. John G. Rowland asked OPM to evaluate all 12 sites.

Three Rivers President Emeritus Booker DeVaughn, who retired last spring, was present for the trustees' vote Monday on an issue that occupied his tenure as president.

"This process has gone on for so long, I'm looking forward to moving on," he said. "All of this delay has resulted in what I may call lost opportunity. We're closing in on the lost opportunity and it looks like we can move forward."

Members of the Norwich City Council were mixed about the news that the consolidated college might be at the Mohegan campus rather than downtown. Mayor Arthur Lathrop, who did not attend the Hartford meeting, said he was pleased the board voted to keep the college in Norwich.

"It is time for us to get behind Dr. Jones and the college administration to ensure the maximum benefit to the entire city occurs with this consolidation," he said.

Alderman Todd Postler, a member of the previous council that voted on eight resolutions supporting the consolidation along Norwich Harbor, said he still believes the best place for the school is along Chelsea Harbor Drive. He also said it is time for Rowland, who has yet to make public which site he prefers, "to step up to the plate and say that the downtown is the best place for the college or go with the Mahan Drive site."

Despite Monday's vote, Ronald Aliano, lead developer with the Chelsea Community Development Group, said he is optimistic that his proposed downtown sites along the harbor are the best options for Three Rivers and the city.

After the release of OPM's report earlier this month, which faulted the downtown sites, Aliano said he would meet with the governor's Chief of Staff Dean Pagani to discuss information a former chief of staff requested pertinent to the Chelsea Harbor Drive project. On Monday, Aliano said he still intended to meet with the governor.

Staff writer Megan Bard contributed to this report.