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A sneak peek

WEST LIBERTY – Students and faculty in the health sciences at West Liberty University got the chance Monday to see their future educational home.

They had a sneak peek inside the Campbell Hall of Health Sciences still under construction on the main campus.

The $23 million facility is expected to be complete by Dec. 1, and to open in time for the semester that begins in January, according to Larry Skryzypek, capital projects manager at WLU.

Workers are presently in the process of making the structure weather-proof, he said. Windows and glass panels are being installed in the exterior walls.

But the recent rain hasn’t hampered the project, he continued.

“We’ve already got the roof on,” Skryzypek noted. “Now we’re just working to enclose the building.”

Though it’s still incomplete, faculty in the nursing program could see how their space will be laid out in the building.

“It’s a lot bigger than what you have now, isn’t it?” Skryzypek asked them.

The four-story facility consists of 72,000 square feet – 18,000 square feet on each level, he said.

The first floor will contain medical laboratories and chemistry classrooms, while the dental hygiene program will be based on the second floor. There will be 24 stations in the dental hygiene program, an increase from the current 18.

The nursing program, meanwhile, will share the third floor of the new building with the physician assistant studies program. The fourth floor will be left open for now for future development, Skryzypek said.

WLU presently has about $16 million on hand to pay for the $23 million Campbell Hall project, according to Angie Zambito Hill, director of development at WLU.

The state of West Virginia has committed $12.75 million toward construction of the new facility, while WLU has invested an additional $2.75 million, she said. Still another $600,000 has been contributed by private donors, she added.

Additional fundraising is needed to avoid tuition increases for WLU students, according to Hill.

“We really need to raise $2 million in the next year of two, but we have some time,” she said. “We’ve sold some bonds. We will use the state money first, then the private funds.”

The WLU Foundation raised $4.65 million last year, but not all of the money has been earmarked for Campbell Hall, she continued.

“We definitely have more work to do for the Campbell Hall project,” Hill added.

Those interested in contributing to the WLU Foundation should call Hill at 304-336-8490.

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