Tabor College President Jules Glanzer expressed gratitude during the annual President?s Dinner Friday for the generosity of every donor who has contributed to the Signature Campaign.
?During the past couple of years, during this campaign, we have received gifts now from a dollar to $2 million,? Glanzer said. ?We?ve received goats, we?ve received corn and grain and land and cash and all kinds of different commodities.
?As of today, the total amount you and a thousand other people have given to this campaign is $13.4 million.?
A record crowd of more than 315 Tabor College donors, faculty, staff and students responded with applause upon hearing the amount.
?Thank you for believing in Tabor and thank you for trusting Tabor,? Glanzer said in response.
The Signature Cam?paign?the largest fundraising project in the history of the college?will shape the lives of current and future students, for generations to come, according to Glanzer.
?The Signature Campaign is an ARTS campaign,? Glanzer said. ?In addition to building a Center for the Arts, we also are committed to Attracting students, Retaining students, Transforming students and Sending students into God?s world. The Signature Campaign will help make this happen.?
Groundbreaking for the Shari Flaming Center for the Arts is tentatively scheduled for May 2, with site preparation starting this summer and construction beginning in fall 2015.
The project is expected to be completed and dedicated late in 2016.
The college still has $2.8 million to raise to complete the $16.2 million Signature Campaign. These funds will be used to build and endow the center, meet the annual fund needs and provide other campus enhancements.
It is anticipated that the cost of the Center for the Arts will increase from the original $9 million estimate. Based on the estimates, additional funds will be raised and allocated for the building.
The Center for the Arts will include a performance auditorium, a black-box theater, a grand lobby, classrooms, a recording studio, choral rehearsal room and a visual arts education wing.
In November, the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation in Tulsa, Okla., confirmed a $1 million grant for the facility, thanks to $2.7 million raised during the year-long challenge.
