WEST PLAINS, Mo. – Officials at Missouri State University-West Plains will host a groundbreaking ceremony at 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 22, for the Gohn Hall renovation/construction project at the project site, 603 W. Main St.

The brief ceremony is open to all.  Parking will be available in the Lybyer Technology Center lot.  Hot cocoa and cookies will be served immediately following the ceremony in the parlor at Kellett Hall, 905 W. Main St.

Today, Dec. 16, members of the university’s board of governors awarded the bid for this project to Bales Construction Co., Inc., of Springfield for $2,072,232.  Bales was the lowest of three bidders on the project.

The project, considered the No. 1 capital priority of Missouri State University System officials, was made possible this fall with a major gift commitment from the family that originally donated the home, longtime West Plains banker David Gohn and his sister, longtime public educator Virginia Gohn Sapp of St. Louis, Mo.  Their donation is being added to university money from the Springfield and West Plains campuses to cover the project’s costs.

Once completed, the facility will provide a permanent home for Missouri State-Springfield’s growing Outreach program, which offers bachelor’s and master’s degree programs on the West Plains campus.  The building will house classrooms for those degree completion programs and office space for employees affiliated with the Outreach program, university officials said.

Completion of Gohn Hall will make it easier than ever before for students in the West Plains area to complete a bachelor’s or master’s degree without leaving their home, university officials said, explaining students can obtain an associate’s degree at Missouri State-West Plains then complete the four-year program via distance learning technology in Gohn Hall.

For more information about the ceremony, contact the Missouri State-West Plains development office at 417-255-7240.