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DANVILLE, KY - Formal groundbreaking ceremonies are set for 11:30 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 19, for a Habitat for Humanity house in Danville billed as "The House the Veeps Built." Planned in conjunction with the vice presidential debate set for Oct. 5 at Centre College, the house is a joint project of campus and community chapters of Habitat for Humanity. The formal groundbreaking will be the college's first debate-related event since last week's announcement that the debate is back "on," after two weeks of uncertainty. The building site for the Habitat house is on North Sixth Street in Danville, within four blocks of the Centre campus. Centre College students secured grants totalling $32,000 to cover much of the construction costs, and they plan to invite the vice presidential candidates to come by the site on Oct. 5 to hammer a nail. Work crews actually began work on the foundation in late August in hopes of scheduling the project so as to raise the walls on debate day. The formal groundbreaking was delayed until after the majority of Centre students had returned for the fall academic term. Tuesday's groundbreaking will feature remarks by Centre president John Roush and executives from the organizations that provided grant support for the house. Those organizations are the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati (FHLB), the Kentucky Housing Corporation and a group of seven local financial institutions. Donor support also came from a Centre parent who is deeply committed to Habitat. Carol M. Peterson and Andrew Isaacs will participate in the groundbreaking in behalf of the FHLB, which provided a grant of $15,000 grant. Lynn Luallen will represent the Kentucky Housing Corporation, which granted $10,000 toward the project. Louis Prichard, president of Farmers National Bank, will represent the participating local financial institutions, which granted nearly $7,000. A team of three Centre College students developed the successful grant proposals that brought the funds necessary to purchase the land and building supplies. Chris DeHoag of Bowling Green was joined by Stacy Bailey of Columbia and Elam Leed of Friars Hill, W.Va. (DeHoag and Leed graduated from Centre in May, while Bailey is now a senior and serves as president of Centre's Habitat chapter.) The three students received assistance and support from Karl Benson and Martha Farmer of the Boyle County Habitat chapter, as well as Prichard and college staff members Ann Young and Rick Axtell. Members of the Boyle County chapter have been working at the site every weekend. A team led by Bill Simpson of Danville recently completed work on the joists and subfloor. In the event of rain, the groundbreaking ceremony will be held in the Combs Center Warehouse on Centre's campus.. - end - Communications Office Public information coordinator: Patsi Barnes Trollinger |