College of the Ozarks students put skills to work

by Vera-Jane Goodin

SBJ Contributing Writer

sbj@sbj.net

It's not unusual to see construction under way on college campuses. However, it is unusual for most of the construction to be undertaken by college staff and students. That's what happens at the College of the Ozarks with such projects as the Edith Gittinger Center for Music, the Leonard Gittinger Christian Ministries Center and Keeter Center for Character Education.

"The college is known as Hard Work U,' and there's a good reason for that," said Rick Hughes, business manager.

In lieu of tuition, full-time students work 15 hours weekly on campus plus one 40-hour week per semester. Also about 450 students opt to cover room-and-board by working in a summer program, said Camille Howell, public relations spokesperson.

"We are the contractors. We are building (Keeter Center). Basically we have 10 employees and about 22 students assigned to that project," said Larry Cockrum, dean of administration.

Architectural firm Butler, Rosenbury & Partners Inc. designed the buildings.

Brad McKenzie is principal architect on Keeter Center.

"The Keeter Center is a motel, restaurant and conference center. ... Our old motel and Friendship House that we currently have, which is a public restaurant, are in need of repair and redoing," Cockrum said. "(Keeter Center) is upgrading the facilities to a very first-class facility and operation."

The center will have 15 suites. The new restaurant will seat about 92 people more than the current 200-seat facility.

Keeter Center will be a 97,000-square-foot facility, said Hughes.

In addition to the lodge area, McKenzie said the facility will have a conference center with a 350-seat auditorium.

Because the students and staff undertake the construction, projects tend to take a little longer. The Keeter Center, scheduled for completion in August 2004, has been under construction for about four years, Cockrum said.

Having a motel or hotel on campus allows students in the hotel and restaurant management program to gain hands-on experience, Cockrum said.

Gittinger centers

Andrew Wells is principal architect on the Edith Gittinger Center for Music and the Leonard Gittinger Christian Ministries Center.

"We call the new building (music center) a jewel box because the new addition completely wraps the old building, but the original building can still be seen on the interior of the new building because it's left exposed. So it still maintains a presence on the main campus quadrangle."

The Edith Gittinger Center for Music was completed in August except for the section connecting it to the ministries building. The ministries building is scheduled to be finished in April 2004, Cockrum said. That building, currently under renovation, used to be the Thompson Dining Hall.

"Those buildings were designed and developed at the same time, but because of logistics, construction on the music building had to be completed before construction on the second building could begin.

Building and renovations on the College of the Ozarks campus won't stop there. Next on the list is to renovate the Friendship House to become an alumni center, Cockrum said. Then McKibben Hall will be renovated for classrooms and faculty offices, and the current dining facility will be renovated.

According to Hughes, the combined estimated cost of Keeter Center, the Edith Gittinger Center for Music, and the Leonard Gittinger Christian Ministries Center is $21.7 million.

Construction and renovation projects are paid for from funds on-hand derived from donations and private funds, not through loans, Cockrum said.