Trail, reflecting pool first part of ATU-Ozark capital campaign
by June 10, 2011 1:54 pm 107 views
A capital campaign will soon deliver several campus to the Arkansas Tech University—Ozark Campus, to include a $100,000 walking trail around the campus scheduled for completion in October.
The one-half mile walking will be built around the campus, featuring a reflecting pool to be named for Michael Morton of Central Arkansas Nursing Centers in Fort Smith, a garden to be named for AMR Architects in Little Rock, as well as a new campus entrance marker, donor sign, landscaping, benches,and lighting.
The traill will eventually link with city sidewalks to the south and hopefully begin the plan to connect other city trails, according to an ATU-Ozark statement.
“One community partner believes so strongly in this project and the Ozark campus, and has made an incredibly generous donation to ensure the success of this endeavor and today, I am proud to announce that this trail will be called ‘SGL – The Carbon Company” Trail,’” ATU-Ozark Chancellor Dr. Jo Alice Blondin said in the statement. “This trail will provide increased campus life and community wellness opportunities, fellowship, and regional pride in our progress on the Ozark campus.”
SGL, a global company based in Wiesbaden, Germany, operates a production plant in Ozark that manufactures graphite and carbon electrodes. The products are primarily used in electric arc furnaces in which scrap metal is melted to produce steel.
The capital improvement projects at ATU-Ozark are part of a campus strategic planning process ongoing since 2004. Faculty and staff identified a walking trail/campus beautification as one of the initiatives during the strategic planning process.
Campus strategic planning was also necessary to accommodate student growth. The spring 2011 enrollment at Arkansas Tech University-Ozark Campus was 1,406, up 15.9% compared to spring 2010 enrollment. Spring enrollment in 2010 at ATU-Ozark was up 53.5% compared to 2009.
Once identified, officials at the campus decided to make this project the first private fundraising campaign.
“(T)hough modest, its significance to the Ozark campus is tremendous and its realization impactful,” noted the ATU-Ozark statement.
Members of the fundraising committee charged to raise private funds for the trail are: Leigh Burns Whiteside of Russellville, committee chair; W.R. “Bud” Harper and Dr. Jo Ann Harper of Fort Smith; Eddie Melton of Ozark; Lonnie Turner of Ozark; Don Burns, of Ozark; Michael Smith of Clarksville; and C.A. Kuykendall of Ozark.