From a press release:
Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed House Bill 67 Tuesday that provides Central Wyoming College in Riverton an additional $1.1 million toward the construction of its Intertribal Education and Community Center.
Architectural plans envision a structure in the shape of a tribal drum (see artist's rendering above).
Introduced by the House Select Committee on Tribal Relations, the appropriation bill was approved by both the House and Senate chambers of the Wyoming Legislature. It allows the college to move forward on construction of the 13,920 foot facility that will eventually house a number of CWC academic programs, the college's collection of Native American art and artifacts as well as the Outreach Center for the University of Wyoming.
Recently, U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi was on the CWC campus to announce a $420,000 appropriation for the Intertribal Center, which is on top of a $1 million federal appropriation he secured for the center's construction through the Department of Housing and Urban Development two years ago.
"The college has been actively working toward establishment of the Intertribal Center for the past eight years," said CWC President Jo Anne McFarland, noting the college has received more than $600,000 in private donations toward the project, including a recent pledge of $25,000 from the Eastern Shoshone tribes. The University of Wyoming is contributing another $1.1 million toward the construction to move its outreach offices from across the highway from the CWC campus into the Intertribal Center.
"This exciting higher educational partnership will allow UW to expand its outreach presence, visibility, and access in Fremont County and tie the university closer to CWC," she said. "This makes sharing of space a very appropriate use of space and better use of scarce state resources. But even more important is the increased access to UW courses and programs for our students, many of whom transfer to UW, as well as the synergy and joint programming that we expect will come through this enhanced partnership with UW."
With the appropriation from the state, CWC expects to break ground in the spring of 2009. "The Intertribal Center will be a tribute to the historical significance of the Native American culture to our state and Fremont County, but it will also be a place where natives and non-natives alike can work together for a better collective future," said President McFarland.
The college is proposing to build the center on a site west of the Arts Center that would be highly visible from U.S. Highway 26.
