Ivy Tech fetes technology center
Ivy Tech Community College-Northeast officials and a number of local and state leaders gathered Friday to dedicate the new Steel Dynamics Inc. Keith E. Busse Technology Center.
The $15 million, 107,000-square-foot building, on Ivy Tech’s north campus on St. Joe Road, houses most of the academic programs in the School of Technology and Applied Science & Engineering Technology.
Officials wanted to build the center to keep up with the college’s growing enrollment and to continue to move most programs from the Coliseum campus to the north campus.
“This is the foundation on what Ivy Tech was originally established, as a technical school,” interim Chancellor Russell Baker said.
The building was paid for, in part, through a $1.2 million gift from Busse, chairman and CEO of Steel Dynamics.
Busse told the crowd of more than 100 that the skills taught at the technology center will be invaluable to employers such as Steel Dynamics.
The General Assembly appropriated $26.7 million for the project, including demolition and other costs, and Ivy Tech’s capital campaign goal of $6.5 million was exceeded, spokesman Andrew Welch said.
A record number of IPFW students returned to school this fall to enjoy new apartments, fresh educational opportunities and a revamped orientation program.