Architects draw up plans for growth.

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Charlotte has always had designs on being a "world-class" city, so it's fitting that nearly 18,000 design professionals -- architects, engineers and vendors -- will visit the Queen City for the national convention of the American Institute of Architects. The convention, which will run May 911, gives North and South Carolina architects a chance to shine before their peers.

David Crawford, executive director of the North Carolina AIA chapter, says it's the first time the convention has been held in the Tar Heel State. "It's one of the largest professional conferences ever held in Charlotte." According to Crawford, the initiative to bring the convention to North Carolina hinged on the efforts of retired Charlotte architect Scott Ferebee.

Ferebee, one of the founders of FWA Group, was national president of AIA in 1973 and has missed only one national convention since 1962. He says it's important for Charlotte, which is home to 800 architects, to host the event. "People don't realize this is an architectural center, but it's true. We have more architects here, probably one-and-a-half times to twice as many, as cities like Miami or New Orleans."

Ferebee, 80, says he had toyed with the idea of having his hometown host his profession's convention for a while, but he had to wait until the city had the facilities to handle it. The last piece fell into place when construction of Charlotte's Convention Center was completed in 1995. Ferebee's firm was the architect of record for the center, and he had postponed retirement to oversee the project.

He started his effort by putting together facts to support a bid. The local AIA branch is the 18th-largest city chapter in the country, and Charlotte-Douglas International Airport could easily handle traffic coming in for the event. In 1997, the national AIA directors approved the bid for 2002. But the story doesn't end there. "Believe it or not, there were efforts to take it away from us twice," Ferebee says.

Both times, national AIA leaders tried to move the event to bigger cities, contending that the group would make more money by holding it in cities with larger exhibit floors. "We were fit to be tied," Ferebee says. He and four other local AIA members went back before the executive committee and again pitched Charlotte. "We didn't have a hotel problem. We would bus people in from outlying hotels. We finally convinced them they shouldn't move it."

Count Crawford among the relieved. "It's going to be a tight...