By Derek Spellman
dspellman@joplinglobe.com
NEOSHO, Mo. — It was a day to look to the future and the past.
Several hundred people gathered Friday at Crowder College’s newly minted Arnold Farber Building to celebrate the dedication of both the building and the nearby Tatum Bell Tower. The former structure was named for a late Neosho banker, Arnold Farber, while the latter is named for James Tatum, the president of the college’s Board of Trustees.
Tatum has been on the board for more than four decades and was among those who helped push for the ballot measure that established the college in the early 1960s.
He reflected on the college’s origins Friday. Challenges that supporters faced then, he said, included the acquisition of property for the school and the winning of voters’ support for the plan.
“No one could have predicted what we are witnessing today,” he said while standing before a panoramic window at the Farber Building. “No one.”
The two-story, 47,000-square-foot Arnold Farber Building houses a conference center; a library that is more than double the size of the old one; new offices for admissions and financial aid; a bookstore; and nine new classrooms that will provide seating for 215 students.
The Farber building cost approximately $7.5 million and was funded by a mixture of bond money, donations and state funding.
There are a few items still to be completed on the outside of the Farber Building, said Alan Marble, president of Crowder College. That work includes landscaping, a repaved parking lot, new outdoor lighting and new sidewalks to link with other buildings.
Prominently located at the front of the campus, the Farber Building provides a “primary entry point” to Crowder and gives the campus’ confines a diamond shape.
The configuration, said Kent Farnsworth, a former Crowder College president who also spoke during the dedication ceremonies, “establishes that sense of campus that we were looking for so many years.”
And at the heart of the campus: the 42-foot Tatum Bell Tower which showcases a mixture of the old and the new. The two bells inside the tower were originally cast in the late 1800s, Marble said, while satellites control the setting of its clock.
Marble said college officials hope the completion of the Farber Building and Tatum Bell Tower will help usher in a several large building projects over the next several years.
The college tentatively plans to break ground next spring on its Missouri Alternative and Renewable Energy Technology (MARET) Center. The first construction phase could include a new incubation center for new businesses; renewable-energy laboratories or workshops; and space for the school's construction technology program; and office space.
And after that, college officials hope to be able to build a satellite center in McDonald County and to address building needs of its center in Webb City.
“It is an exciting time to be here,” Marble said.
Did you know?
James Tatum, the president of Crowder College’s Board of Trustees, has served on the board since 1963. He is said to be the longest-serving community college trustee in the nation.
Local News
Related Photos
Discussion
Crowder unveils Arnold Farber Building
- Local News
-
-
City wants to buy weather radios for those without
Phil Jones had been working on a construction project outside his house all day on May 22 and was unaware that a tornado watch had been issued. Once he was inside, though, his weather radio went off, and he learned that a warning had been issued.
-
Architects present preliminary JHS plans at community meeting
Reaction appeared mostly supportive Thursday night among the roughly 50 people who attended a community meeting at which architects presented their preliminary site plans for the future combined Joplin High School and Franklin Technology Center.
-
Confessed shooter testifies against co-defendants in Pittsburg murder case
Rickey Smith testified Thursday that as he came in the back door of Ryan Bailey’s home in Pittsburg with a 9 mm pistol in his hand, Bailey looked up from the couch in his living room.
-
School district’s proposed street-closing plan questioned
Plans to close some streets near the proposed Joplin High School drew questions, including a challenge from a former Joplin mayor, during a public hearing this week.
-
Neosho council approves new golf cart contract
The purchase of golf carts was back on the agenda this week for the Neosho City Council. City Attorney Steve Hays said there were errors in the financing terms that were part of a bid approved last month for the purchase of 55 gas-powered carts from E-Z-Go for $144,195, so the purchase of a new fleet was rebid.
-
Mike Pound: Spirit of competition evident during double-overtime game
When I played basketball in high school, I played in several very close games.
Now, some people who may have known me in high school are probably laughing right now and saying, “What Mike meant to say is that when he was in high school, he came very close to playing in some games.” -
Mo. optometrist filed $40 million refund claim
A southwest Missouri optometrist who filed a tax return claiming a $40 million refund has been sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison.
-
Okla. receives waiver from No Child Left Behind
Oklahoma’s top education official reacted with glee Thursday with the announcement that the state is one of 10 states being granted a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law that requires students be proficient in reading and math by 2014 — but focused on getting students to “just pass the tests.”
-
Kan. House approves bipartisan redistricting bill
Power in the Kansas House is likely to shift next year from rural parts of the state to the Kansas City area after members overwhelmingly approved a bipartisan bill Thursday for redrawing their districts.
-
Fugitive in 1993 British heist arrested in Ozark
A man suspected of stealing about $1.5 million from a security van in England in 1993 has been arrested in southwest Missouri.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Winter Slamming North Asia, Parts of Europe
Syrian Forces Renew Bombardment of Homs
States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Raw Video: U.S. Pullout Celebration
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
Nevada Highway Patrol, City Settle Beating Case
Homs Bombardment Continues, Global Outcry Grows
Raw Video: Dog Rescued From Icy Colo. Water
Skip the Coffee Cup and Inhale Your Caffeine Fix
