UNIVERSITY HOPES TO TAP BIG BUSINESS FOR ARTS CENTER; NITZSCHKE SAYS $20 MILLION A REALISTIC PRICE

Southeast Missouri State University hopes to reach into the pockets of the nation's major corporations and private foundations to fund a fine-and-performing-arts center.

Dr. Dale Nitzschke, the university president, said private funding is essential for such a project.

The university's first priority would be to serve the instructional needs of the art, music and theater departments, he said. The arts center would house classrooms as well as a theater, he said.

The school must look beyond the Southeast Missouri region for at least some of the private funding, Nitzschke said.

Project proponents have talked about the possibility of a $40 million to $50 million project. But Nitzschke said Friday that a more realistic figure is $20 million.

A more expensive project is probably out of the question, Nitzschke said.

"You can dream all you want, but at some point it gets real," he said.

Even with state aid, half the cost or about $10 million probably would have to come from private sources, he said.

Nitzschke said that if the school can secure funding from major corporations and foundations, the center might be built entirely with private funds. At this point, it is too early to tell just how much money could be raised for an arts center.

He said the university plans to hire a vice president for university advancement, who would begin work by July 1. The vice president also would head up the university's fund-raising foundation.

Nitzschke said the vice president's first duties would include a feasibility study on how much money might be raised as part of a capital campaign. The study could take six months. Results of the study could go a long way in determining how large a center could be built, he said.

Nitzschke said he believes a center could be built in five to eight years.

Cape Girardeau insurance agent T. Ronald Hahs chairs the Southeast Missouri University Foundation's board of directors. Hahs said the community needs a performing-arts center. "The real challenge is how to fund this kind of thing," said Hahs, who took over as foundation chairman in December.

Any capital campaign likely would fund a number of projects, which could include a performing-arts center, he said.

"I think the more special interests you are able to benefit, the better are your chances of success," said Hahs. He said it is too early to tell if there is enough public interest to raise the money needed to build a center.

Any new capital campaign would be far different from the "New Vision of Excellence" fund drive that ended more than four years ago, Hahs said. That fund drive was the first major capital campaign in the school's history.

It raised more than $28.5 million over a period of several years, but only $2.5 million of it went toward construction of the university's business building. The private money amounted to seed money for the business building, Hahs said. The business building, which opened last year, was funded largely by the state.

Hahs said the fund-raising burden would be much greater for a performing-arts center.

The foundation board hasn't formally discussed mounting another capital campaign. But a major fund drive is likely to occur within a few years, he said. No specific projects have been mentioned for possible funding.

The board, which has about 40 members, meets only twice a year.

The foundation has operated without an executive director for nearly a year, and no major fund drives are possible until a new director is in place, said Hahs.

The foundation board delayed hiring a new executive director while the university searched for a new president last year. With Nitzschke on board as president, the search process has resumed.