2 new research buildings open

by Tim Pappa
Staff Writer

The Voinovich Center for Leadership and Public Affairs unveiled two renovated buildings at The Ridges yesterday, drawing more than 200 government officials and business people to witness the next step in the center’s growth.

“There were so many officials here today I thought I could put a pitch out for a couple more building renovations before they all left,” joked Mark Weinberg, director of the center and an Ohio University political science professor.

The center, OU’s second largest research facility out of 51, houses five programs and was established in 1998. Funding is allocated to the center through the Voinovich Campaign Advisory Committee, formed in 2001.

Officials cut the ribbons on Buildings 21 and 22 at The Ridges, formerly part of the mental health facility complex. The center’s offices now fill those buildings, in addition to their original site in Building 20. The renovations cost nearly $5 million in state capital funding.

The first building commemorated at the ceremony, Building 22, is home to the Institute for Local Government Administration and Rural Development (ILGARD), as well as the Environmental Studies Program.

Last year was the 20^th anniversary of ILGARD, which provides services such as data and census reports, survey research of economic conditions and job and family projects centered toward growth.

ILGARD was in action last year when Meigs County suffered a medical facility crisis because of a shortage of funds, OU President Robert Glidden said. But in six months, members of ILGARD developed an economic map for the county officials to identify four possible strategies to reroute their budget.

And the environmental studies program is one of the few in the country that offers studies in theoretical and practical applications to the environment, Glidden said.

Two components of the center—the OU Executive Leadership Institute and the Faculty Research Group — have their offices in Building 21.

The institute’s current project is a partnership with the National Network for Public Safety. Together, they oversee 52 children’s programs in Ontario, Calif., to implement growth in instruction, Glidden said.

The center is named for OU alumnus Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio. Voinovich has served the Athens community for 44 years, since he served as student president of the Gray Man’s club, visiting elderly people at The Ridge’s mental facilities.

“We would come up every Tuesday night to entertain the elderly patients,” he said. “We brought them cigarettes, candy, gum. These people had little wrong with them mentally. They just had nowhere else to go. To me, society was failing them.”

In Voinovich’s address, he said the center is an example of his political philosophy.

“Gone are the days when public officials are judged on how much they spend on a problem,” he said. “Now public officials are judged if they can work harder and smarter, and with less money.”