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 Staff photo/Kay Louth
From left, Mary Will, student president elect, Pat Howard, staff representative, Bob Hiskey, faculty senate president elect, Kip Wright, alumni representative, Mike Cross, Western Ohio Educational Foundation (WOEF), Tom Knapke, WOEF board, Jim Sayer, Dean, Steven R. Angle, Wright State University Provost, James Dicke III and Katy Dicke, Dennis Lee, Celina Aluminum Precision Technology (CAPT), Shellie Young, CAPT, break ground for an expansion project at Wright State University Lake Campus Wednesday afternoon.
By KAY LOUTH
Staff Writer
CELINA — With Grand Lake St. Marys as a backdrop, educators, community leaders and alumni took shovels into their hands and broke ground Wednesday for a $9 million expansion and renovation of the Wright State University Lake Campus.
“It is a day to celebrate and turn over some dirt and get on with it,” Lake Campus Dean Jim Sayer told The Evening Leader.
School officials kicked off a capital campaign for the ambitious project in the spring of 2006. Two large donations provided the seed money for the campaign — $2 million from the James F. Dicke family and $250,000 from Celina Aluminum Precision Technology (CAPT). Throughout the capital campaign, the school raised $4 million for the project.
Sayer told the assembled crowd the project was long awaited and the ceremonial groundbreaking was a prelude for the work ahead. Sayer also told the crowd that it was Wright State University Provost Steven Angle who pushed to get the project moving.
“Groundbreakings are always fun, but this one is especially satisfying,” Angle said. “It represents a new era of collaboration. We’re here to celebrate more than just brick and mortar, it’s about a community working together.”
The construction project includes a new science wing to replace one that is more than 30 years old a and Multipurpose Center, which will add approximately 12,200 square feet of new space. In addition, renovation will add 27,860 square feet to existing facilities.
Angle talked about the growth the Lake Campus has experienced in the academic arena, with a strong master’s degree program, which graduated its eighth class this year. The campus also is set to introduce three more bachelor’s degree programs.
“The Lake Campus was founded really for the community’s call for higher education,” Angle said. “Almost half of the funding came from gifts and donations. We are indebted to the generosity and foresight (of the community).”
State Sen. Keith Faber, R-Celina, was on hand for the ceremony. He called education vital to the region and the concept that access to higher education was important for people in areas of Ohio.
“This is key to that right here in Mercer and Auglaize counties,” Faber told The Evening Leader. “We’re building the future not just for the students who will attend in a few years, but for my 3 year old and 4 year old to have access to higher education,” he said.
Father and son Ed Noble and Kraig Noble of St. Marys are each closely associated with the campus. Kraig Noble teaches business law at the campus and his father sits on the Western Ohio Education Foundation (WOEF) board. The elder Noble was around to see the partnership between Wright State University and a fledging Lake Campus take root and through the years.
Prior to its partnership with Wright State University, the facility had an agreement with Ohio Northern University to serve as a satellite center. When officials at ONU ended the agreement, a partnership with Wright State University was created.
“It’s been a great thing,” Ed Noble said.
Lake Campus Librarian Alex Pittman recalled the last time there had been any expansion or building project at the campus.
“I believe the last building project they had out here was shortly after I started out here — Andrews Hall and Trenary Lab, built in 1980. This will be very exciting, what we need for the future,” Pittman said.
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