HBA donates booth space for benefit raffle

The Southwest Missouri State Uni-versity Construction Club will sell raffle tickets for a playhouse its members built at this year's HBA Home Show, according to Shawn Strong, PhD, the organization's adviser.

Strong, assistant professor of industrial technology at SMSU, said the club now is an affiliate of the Association of General Contractors, from which it re-ceived its charter in September 2001.

Strong said the club's student members began building the playhouse during the intersession, which was Jan. 7-11.

He added that the playhouse is 6 feet wide by 9 feet deep, and he said the project gave club members some hands-on experience.

"It's got a little 3-foot by 6-foot front porch, with railings, and electrical. It's got a little light out front and vaulted ceilings on the inside," Strong said.

"Although it's not a house by any means, it's basically a miniature house, with a lot of the same principles that go into building a house going into this."

The club's membership is about 60 now, Strong added.

The Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield donated booth space at the HBA Home Show for the SMSU Construction Club to sell its raffle tickets, which Strong said will cost $2 each.

The proceeds from the raffle will benefit the SMSU chapter of Habitat for Humanity, of which Strong also is the adviser.

The money will help pay for the chapter's first blitz build, in which Strong said the construction club's members will participate.

"We are going to build one house, but we're going to try to do it in a week, and we're going to try to build it on campus," Strong said.

He said the house will be built from start to finish on campus, then moved, with the help of a house mover, to a permanent site in Habitat for Humanity's McAl subdivision.

Strong said AGC Construction Club members are closely involved with Hab-itat for Humanity, and all proceeds from the raffle will be earmarked for the blitz-build project.

The drawing for the playhouse will be held the first week of March. Informa-tion about the HBA Home Show and a complete schedule of HBA seminars can be found on page 27.