By RICK A. RICHARDS
Indiana Correspondent LA CROSSE, Ind. — The annual meeting of Purdue University extension in LaPorte County was billed as a recognition of the volunteers who make those programs, particularly 4-H, possible.
Those volunteers received due praise from guest speaker Fred Whitford of Purdue – but the real celebration at the LaCrosse Community Center March 22 was the announcement that for the first time in its more than 100-year history, extension in LaPorte County will have a permanent home.
Hugh Tonagle, director of the Cooperative Extension Service, made the announcement that county officials have approved an $850,000 project to build a 10,230 sqaure-foot building at the LaPorte County Fairgrounds. The vote ends more than a decade of fits and starts for a new building.
The extension office has been moved several times, from the courthouse to a neighboring courthouse annex and, most recently, an office plaza where it has been paying $45,000 a year for rent.
“This is great,” said Tonagle. “It has been a long ride.”
Previous plans which would have constructed larger more elaborate buildings, including a “green” building, began in cost at $4.2 million and went down to $1.2 million. All were voted down by county officials because they were deemed too expensive.
In 2008, ground was broken and a concrete foundation poured at the fairgrounds for a new building, but the project was stopped because of a shortage of funds. The new building will use that concrete foundation.
After that last project fell apart, Tonagle said a new approach was taken. “We went bare bones and we used our own people to help in the design,” he said. “We told them what our parameters were and to look at the possibility of rent income from the building.”
When the building is complete, the extension office will occupy about a third of the building, leaving room for two other county agencies to move in and pay rent to the extension service. Those agencies most likely will be the Soil and Water Conservation District and the Solid Waste District of LaPorte County.
Ken Layton, a Republican county commissioner, played an active role in getting the project to happen.
“Last year when we went to the county council to push for a building for extension, we knew rent was going up, but the $1.2 million cost was just too much,” said Layton. “The council challenged us to put together a more workable plan, and that’s what we did.”
Democratic Commissioner Barbara Huston said while elected officials on both the commission and council wanted to get the extension service into its own building, the bids always came in too high.
“Finally, we looked at the situation, and with rent going up to $45,000 a year, we decided that we were never going to get this thing done if we didn’t act. This time the project came in at $850,000 and we pushed it through the council,” she added.
Still, the council vote wasn’t unanimous. Two members voted against the project, not because they disputed the need, but because they didn’t want to take on a new project in a difficult economic time.
Even though no timetable has been set for construction to begin, Andrea Mitzner of Wanatah, a member of the extension board, was ecstatic about the news. “Finally,” she said. “When I was in 4-H, the office was in the county complex.”
Since then it has moved to a private office plaza, forcing the county to pay upwards of $3,000 a month in rent.
“I think the county council got tired of paying rent,” said Mitzner, of why the project advanced this time. “If we would have done this eight or 10 years ago when we first started talking about it, the building would be paid for by now.”
Whitford offered his congratulations to the extension service and went on to talk about the important role it plays in the lives of some 1,500 LaPorte County youngsters.
“When we get involved with programs like 4-H, we don’t know what kids are going to be,” he said. “We hope it builds character, and that’s what I work for.”
Whitford, who is the director of Purdue’s pesticide program, is heavily involved in 4-H in Tippecanoe County. “We teach them how to compete and how to follow the rules. These are things that will be with them the rest of their lives, and we do it one person at a time.”
He urged farmers to open their farms to youth groups to show them from where their food comes. “This is one of the most important things you can do,” said Whitford. “Most of them have never been on a farm, and if they get the chance, they will remember it the rest of their life.”
He infused his comments with humor, pointing out that getting people to laugh is one of the best ways to learn. “The challenge is to present material in a way people understand,” he said. “And remember to always ask why. That keeps us thinking.”
Afterwards, Whitford said he hoped people would leave the meeting in a better mood than when they arrived.
“I tried to show how difficult it can be to educate people because everyone views things differently. Just because you see it one way, that might not be the only way,” he explained.
During the brief business meeting, Nathan Mrozinski and Nancy Parkman were elected as new members to the extension board. |
