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10/14/20 Drury University to break ground on new Enterprise Center on Oct. 29

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Drury University to break ground on new Enterprise Center and Breech School of Business Administration on Oct. 29


SPRINGFIELD, Mo., October 14, 2020 — Drury University will break ground on its first new academic building in two decades at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 29. Media are welcome to cover the event. 

A limited number of guests, including donors, trustees, civic leaders and members of the campus community, will attend the outdoor ceremony at the southeast corner of Drury Lane and Central Street. The building’s naming donor will be unveiled at the ceremony. 

The three-story, 56,700-square-foot facility is the first major project of Drury’s campus master plan. The $27 million project is funded entirely through private donations. The space will:

  • Promote interdisciplinary learning by providing a new home for the Breech School of Business Administration and the Department of Political Science and International Affairs.
  • Reflect an emphasis on entrepreneurship and innovation that keenly balances learning-by-studying with learning-by-doing: the ethos of the Your Drury Fusion curriculum.
  • House the Robert and Mary Cox Compass Center, which brings together academic advising, career planning and development, and academic life coaching in a one-stop-shop for students.
  • Feature an 10,500-square-foot Center for Executive Education attached by a colonnade to the main building. This conference center and flexible event space will be used extensively by the entire Drury campus and will be available for community use as well.
  • Include a café that will be open to the public.
  • Tie in with upcoming enhancements to the Central Street corridor as part of the City of Springfield’s voter-approved ¼-cent Capital Improvements Program

Nabholz is the project’s general contractor. Based in Arkansas with an office in Springfield, the firm has had a presence in the Ozarks for more than 40 years and uses an extensive network of local subcontractors. Nabholz has spearheaded the construction of numerous projects across Missouri and the Midwest, including the Wonders of Wildlife Museum and Aquarium, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark., and the current renovation of Hillcrest High School. Urban design and architecture firm Cooper Robertson, which developed Drury’s campus master plan, and Trivers, based in St. Louis, designed the building.

“The Enterprise Center is wonderful and tangible proof of Drury’s current momentum,” says Dr. Tim Cloyd, president. “Generations of Drury students will walk the halls of this building, and their lives will be forever changed by the teaching and mentorship they will receive within its walls. Our donors have demonstrated their lasting commitment to Drury by making it possible, and we look forward to thanking many of them in person as we break ground in celebration.”

The building is expected to host its first classes in fall 2022. 

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Media Contact: Mike Brothers, Executive Director of University Relations – (417) 873-7390 or mikebrothers@drury.edu

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