Friday’s dedication ceremony at the Neal Welcome Center marked the near completion of the $2 million structure, privately funded by life-long Eastern supporters Burnham and Nancy Neal and Burnham’s sister, the late Rosemary Neal.

Interim President Lou Hencken, university administrators and members of the Neal family attended to celebrate and speak about the new building, which features a two-story atrium, elevator, gallery, board room, library, conference room, administrative offices and basement.

The ceremony included a blessing of the structure by a local minister.

“This is much more than I expected,” Neal said. “This is beautiful. This is a great thing for Eastern and the community. They’ll both benefit from this.”

Neal said the location fits the university’s need perfectly in that it provides ample space for parking. The Neal family began allotting money for the center at Eastern more than a decade ago.

Ground was broken for the Neal Welcome Center in November 2001 and was mostly completed by June 18, 2002, when Burnham and his daughter-in-law, Cindy Neal, hosted the ribbon-cutting ceremony commemorating the official opening of the structure. The EIU Foundation and developmental offices moved into the 7,000-plus square foot facility prior to the ribbon-cutting ceremony, despite work that remained, said Patrice Stratton, executive officer for the EIU Foundation, which promotes volunteerism and gifts of philanthropy among alumni and friends of the university.

“We felt we needed to have a ribbon-cutting ceremony since we were having our first meeting June 28,” Stratton said.

Nancy Page, administrative aide for the EIU Foundation, said construction went smoothly up until last spring when torrential rainfall delayed the laying of the exterior brick.

Familiarizing incoming freshmen will be the main purpose of the facility, Stratton said.

“(Not only) is the building home of the foundation and provider of office space for development offices, it is also going to be primarily used to welcome students and parents to the university,” Stratton said.

The new center also will continue providing students with brochures and tours and will conduct orientation, Stratton said.

The EIU Foundation was formerly located in the Brainard House, with cramped space for students and parents during university visits, she said.

The Neal Welcome Center will be “a first place to stop and gain information about the university,” she said. “Campus can be a difficult place to navigate.”

Because some logistics of the center still are being refined, Stratton said the center will not be fully online until next fall, although it still will be of great help to incoming students for the spring 2003 semester.

Stratton also alluded to an open house slated to take place from 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Friday for people interested in seeing the center, located on the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Douglas Drive.

The building project’s architect, Donald Hance of Hance, Utz & Associates, LLC, of Mattoon, said the only remaining work is portions of the exterior and “a little landscaping.”