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Wesleyan Preparing to Move Forward on Building

The end of fundraising and the beginning of construction are months away, but Nebraska Wesleyan University will begin preparing the site for a new science-focused building by the end of the year.

Once Christmas services conclude at First United Methodist Church at 50th Street and St. Paul Avenue, Nebraska Wesleyan will close a portion of 50th Street for utility work and site preparation for what it calls the “21st Century Science Initiative.”

Announced in February after more than a year of planning and fundraising, the 85,000-square-foot building will become the first academic space built at Nebraska Wesleyan since 1981.

NWU President Fred Ohles said private giving for the $27 million project is past the two-thirds point, with about half a dozen major gifts leading the way and some 150 donors contributing.

“It’s a group that demonstrates the very broad base of support we have for the project and it’s extraordinarily gratifying to me,” Ohles said by phone Wednesday.

The university’s fundraising team is pursuing the remaining amount while Tetrad Property Group — tapped by Nebraska Wesleyan to serve as an owner’s representative on the project — pushes forward on the project being designed by Celli-Flynn Brennan architects.

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