Fort Branch groundbreaking celebrated Friday

Daily Clarion staff report

news@pdclarion.com

FORT BRANCH-Vincennes University broke ground Friday for the $12 million Gibson County Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Logistics.

The 57,342 square-foot building to be constructed on the southeast corner of Coal Mine Road and U.S. 41 will offer manufacturing and logistics degree programs for high-tech industries when construction is completed in about 18 months.

The project will be financed with a $5 million state appropriation, $3.3 million in VU funds, and $3.7 million in gifts.

"I think it's appropriate to say VU is here," joked VU President Dick Helton, celebrating the groundbreaking under a tent pitched in the event of rain Friday morning. Helton noted the work to bring a campus to Gibson County has been a "long and enduring process" from the time the project was proposed in the Indiana legislature.

"You can't be any more pleased about us being here than we are about being here," he told the crowd, joking that admissions staff was on hand and as a part of the event, "each of you must take three credit hours."

Helton promised the two-story building on the 40-acre campus will be "one of the most beautiful facilities that VU has ever built."

He thanked State Reps. Kreg Battles and Russ Stilwell, State Sen. Lindell Hume, U.S. Sens. Dick Lugar and Evan Bayh and Congressman Brad Ellsworth for their work to see the project to fruition.

Helton also recognized Princeton resident George Rehnquist, who serves on the VU board of trustees and the Indiana Higher Education Commission.

R.J. Reynolds, vice president of Administration at nearby Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana, also serves on the VU board of trustees.

"This is an exciting day for the first college of Indiana," he told the crowd.

"People are going to understand that southwest Indiana is going to become an advanced technology center for the state of Indiana, and maybe a whole region, so it is definitely going to have an impact," Reynolds said. "A lot of companies that will come to this region will look at this as a good training facility and that is a real key - the education and availability of a trained workforce.

"I believe that when this campus opens it will bring great opportunity to Gibson County and southwest Indiana. This is a good support for the surrounding area and for our employers throughout the region. This is not just for Toyota. We are involved to make sure that we support economic development for southwest Indiana. That is our corporate and social responsibility."

Reynolds said the project received strong input from the community advisory committee and local leaders.

Helton said future goals for the site envision a technology park. "We have not forgotten that," he told the crowd.

The site, said Helton, offers good access to U.S. 41, I-64 and the new I-69 highway, which is within three miles of the loation. "This will be a demand driven building," he promised.

Fort Branch Town Council attorney James McDonald said former town council members Ray Falls, Gerald Bledsoe and Chris Mosby worked hard to bring the campus to their community.

Helton said Krempp Construction of Jasper is the general contractor for the project. H.G. Heinz of Vincennes is the mechanical/plumbing contractor and Premier Electric of Evansville has the electrical contract.

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