Ball State University will give thanks to six classes of alumni for their contributions to the construction of the gateway to campus at the corner of McKinley and Bethel avenues in a dedication ceremony at 4 p.m. today.
Ball State President Jo Ann Gora and Muncie Mayor Dan Canan will be present for the event, Stephanie Arrington, special assistant to the president's office, said.
The gateway, which was officially completed on August 14, was made possible by a combined $250,000 contribution from the Ball State graduation classes of 1939, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955 and 1975.
"Every year the 50-year reunion class makes a gift to the university," -áArrington said. "This project was funded by six 50-year classes and one 25-year class. Each class decided to adopt the gateway as a project, and their money was added together until there was enough."
Nancy Linson, co-chairwoman of the Ball State class of 1948, said her class donated money to the gateway project because the entrance sign on the corner of McKinley and University avenues isn't an adequate entrance to campus.
"They gave us a choice of things to donate to, and we felt we really needed to have a beautiful entrance into campus and make it look like a first-class university," Linson said. "The one they put on University [Avenue] isn't really that pretty. I think of all the things they offered us, this was the most appropriate."
The gateway is part of the second phase of the McKinley Safety Improvement Project, Tom Kinghorn, vice president of Business Affairs and treasurer, said. The project also includes landscaping the medians separating the lanes on McKinley Avenue.
"The project has been in the planning for more than 20 years," Kinghorn said. "There are additional facets in the future, but because of the extensive nature of the project it has to be done one section at a time."
Landscaped medians and a pedestrian crossing were also added to the McKinley and Bethel avenues entrance to campus.
Linson said the gateway helps improve Ball State's image as a major university.
"I think it makes it look like a new university," Linson said. "It doesn't look like a small teacher's college anymore. I think it helps tremendously. 'We are a university,' that's what the statement says to me."
Mary Ann Olinger, Ball State senior director of development, said university police will block off one lane of McKinley Avenue and direct traffic at the corner of McKinley and Bethel avenues during the ceremony.
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