A long red and white ribbon stretched from an iron gate outsideBall State 's new Center for Historical Preservation, which openedits doors Monday during the 25th anniversary celebration of thegraduate program in historical preservation.
As he held a large pair of bronze-colored scissors, James Glass,director of the Center for Historic Preservation and the graduateprogram, snipped the ribbon to the cheers and applause of thespectators.
"This is a superb historical building," he said. "The ideabehind the center is to help the community with its revitalizationefforts and to help in building the community's identity."
The center, an extension of the College of Architecture andPlanning, is housed in the Historic Mary Lincoln Cottage, providedby the Minnetrista Cultural Center. The center will play asignificant role in providing historic preservation services toIndiana communities, Glass said.
The center will also serve as an outreach arm to enhance theprofessional experience of historic preservation for students byproviding them with hands-on, community-based projects.
"It gives the opportunity to provide actual, real-life projectsfor (students). It will provide a well-rounded preservationprogram," Jon Smith, director of the Division of HistoricPreservation and Archaeology in the Indiana Department of NaturalResources, said. "It was a fantastic idea. A lot of work went intothis, and its products are first rate."
Glass said establishing the center would not have been possiblewithout the partnerships Ball State formed with severalorganizations who helped to fund $193,000 for the project.
"We have to have partnerships with the community," he said. "Weneed to link arms with people who share our interests and who canprovide the funds to help make things happen."
The first of the center's projects feature historic structuresreports for museum properties owned by the Division of IndianaState Museum and Historic Sites in the the Indiana Department ofNatural Resources.
Ball State's Building Better Communities initiative, designed tospur economic development and enhance the quality of lifeadvancement in Indiana, is also providing financial support tothree other projects, which include Main Street assistance projectsin Hammond, Hartford City, Indianapolis and Bloomington for theIndiana Main Street Program of the Indiana Department of Commerce.Other projects include a Walking Tour Brochure Project highlightingthe historic architecture of Wabash sponsored by the WabashMarketplace Inc., and a Muncie Heritage Education Project forfourth grade classes in Muncie, sponsored by the Muncie PublicLibrary.
The Minnetrista Cultural Center has also funded a Gas BoomHeritage Project that will expand public awareness of thesignificance of the gas boom to east central Indiana.
Several other key project sponsors include the HistoricPreservation Fund of the National Park Service, the IndianaDepartment of Natural Resources' Division of Historic Preservationand Archaeology and the Efroymson Fund of the Central IndianaCommunity Foundation.
"We're extremely grateful to all the partners who helped to make(the center) happen for us," Beverley Pitts, Ball State provost andvice president of academic affairs, said. "We're proud of it, andwe're committed to help preserve and protect our great culturalenvironment."
Jennifer Brewer, a first-year graduate student in the historicalpreservation program, said as a student she was especially pleasedwith Ball State's partnership and was glad she will benefitfirsthand.
"It will give all students good experience -- good hands-onwork, and at the same time it will benefit the community," shesaid.
Like Brewer, Royce Yeater, director of the Midwest RegionalOffice of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said he ispleased Ball State is taking steps to educate its students andpromote historical preservation at the same time.
"At occasions like these we realize that all great universitiesdo two things -- educate students and serve their constituenciesand the communities they represent," Yeater said.
Virginia Nilles, director of the Muncie Public Library, said shewas pleased the center overall will serve a source of pride forBall State and the local community.
"It brings distinguishment to Muncie and the university," Nillessaid. "And I'm honored to be part of it."
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