By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The fountain feature for the new gateway to Bowling Green State University’s traditional quadrangle will be named for longtime local supporters of the university.
On Friday (May 20), the BGSU Board of Trustees approved naming of the water feature as the Schmeltz Family Fountain in honor of Peggy and the late William Schmeltz, of Bowling Green.
William Schmeltz, who died in 2014, had a 30-year BGSU career including serving as dean of what is now the Schmidthorst College of Business, as well as an independent career in business.
Peggy Schmeltz, who still resides in Bowling Green, was one of the leaders in investment club movement both locally and nationally.
The family has a long history of donating to the university. The atrium in the Maurer Center, the home of the College of Business is also named for them.
Pam Conlin, vice president for University Advancement, said the Peggy Schmeltz made a $500,000 contribution to the gateway project.
The dedication of the new gateway is planned for the university’s 100th homecoming scheduled for Sept. 16-18.
The gateway, which is on the site where the Administration building stood until its demotion last fall, is the capstone for the university’s Campus Master Plan 1.0. The total cost of the project will be $2 million, and the university is planning to raise private funds for it.
Chief Financial Officer Sheri Stoll said that the dream of the late Steve Krakoff, vice president of capital planning and campus operations, who oversaw the master plan work until his death 2017, was to see the Administration Building come down. That opens up the vista from Thurstin Street to the Bowen-Thompson Quadrangle bounded by legacy buildings with University Hall at the end.
Some of the groundwork has already started on the new master plan, 2.0, which will focus on the Science Corridor, Stoll said.
These master plans, Stoll said, take four to five years “of really hard work” to develop. Some plans that have been done, notably the residence Hall plan, may have to be looked at again in the wake of COVID-19. The university is undergoing a major upgrade of its information technology infrastructure.
Other construction is continuing on campus. The building of an addition to the Kokosing Hall, formerly Park Avenue Building, which will serve as the home for the School of the Built Environment within the College of Technology, Architecture and Applied Engineering, is now moving ahead after months of delays because of supply chain issues. That work is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.
She said that the trustees are also expected to act on projects to renovate the Slater Family Ice Arena and to replace the home of the College of Technology, Architecture and Applied Engineering.
Trustees on Friday also approved spending $5 million in deferred maintenance funds to turn the third floor of the Math Science building into the Radbill Center for College and Life Design.
The center is part of the university’s major initiative to develop a life design program that directly connects students’ academic work with their aspirations for life after they graduate. The Radbill Center will focus on helping students structure their academic work, while the Kuhlin Hub for Career Design and Connections will focus on helping students finding employment during and after their time at BGSU.
Provost Joe Whitehead has described Life Design as “a framework of how you measure out your trajectory through life.”
The program got a lift last month with the announcement of major gifts from Geoffrey Radbill and Mike Kuhlin.
[RELATED STORY: BGSU Life Design initiative gets a $13.5 million boost]
In Whitehead’s update to trustees, he reported that in the just completed academic year 1,370 students have been assigned to a life design coach while 1616 have taken the introductory course, BGSU 1910. About 1200 students are enrolled in BGSU 1910.
The Math Science building, Stoll said, will be entry to the science corridor, so the $5 million also includes money for some exterior work.
The work is expected to be completed in spring, 2023.
