POMEROY - Construction is nearly complete on the $2 million brick building which will house the Meigs Center for the University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College.

It stands on the hill above Meigs Middle School and Meigs High School on land donated by the Meigs Local School District to the Meigs County Community Improvement Corporation.

The exterior of the building is completed, the driveway and parking lots are blacktopped, and the grass on the front lawn is growing. Some interior work remains to be finished in the 10,000 square-foot education facility, which has been leased and will be operated by the Rio Grande Community College.

The new center will replace the facility on Mill Street in Middleport.

While an opening date has not been announced, it is anticipated that the center will be in full operation by fall. With the close proximity to Meigs High School, Superintendent William Buckley has said that it opens the door of opportunity for more Meigs High School juniors and seniors to take advantage of the post-secondary education option which allows students to accumulate college credit while at the same time completing required high school credits.

Phoenix Associates of Parkersburg, W.Va., received the contract to build the center. Funding came from a variety of sources including private donations, grant funds and loans from local banks.

The facility has been named the Bernard V. Fultz Center of Higher Education. The late Mr. Fultz, prominent Meigs County attorney, contributed $200,000 to the project and was recognized last summer by Paul Reed, CIC president, during a celebration of Fultz's 50th year as a practicing attorney here.

At that time, Reed called Fultz the “father of the CIC” and spoke along with many others of his many contributions, including his gift to the building for the Rio Grande Center.

Reed said that while a “soft opening” of the center may take place this spring and a few summer classes offered, the grand opening will probably be delayed until just before the fall semester begins.