Ivy Tech Community College — Columbus’ new and approximately $32 million, 80,000-square-foot building will be named after former state trustee and local businessman and entrepreneur Tony Moravec.
The news was announced Thursday afternoon at a steel topping ceremony, where school leaders celebrated the completion of the steel structure for the new Ivy Tech campus building, which will be named Moravec Hall.
Ivy Tech Foundation Executive Director of Development Therese Copeland said that Moravec is known throughout the community and state for “his skills as a businessman, his thoughtfulness, his kindness toward others and his generosity.”
Moravec owns Applied Laboratories, Blairex Laboratories and Zaharakos Ice Cream Parlor and Museum. He’s also involved with Upland Columbus Pump House as a developer.
“He absolutely demonstrates his love and support of Columbus, Indiana time and time again,” Copeland said. “Tony also has a heart for our students and he is an advocate for education.”
His work has included representing the city on the Ivy Tech Foundation Board starting in 2009 and serving on the state board of trustees after being appointed in 2014.
Additionally, Copeland said that “his legacy of giving to Ivy Tech spans 30 years.” This includes a large endowed scholarship for STEM students.
In regards to this endowment, Moravec said that other countries are far ahead of the United States in these subjects, and immediate action is needed to catch up.
“STEM education is critical to how we move forward,” he said.
Moravec also thanked the family of Harvey S. Poling, Jr., who was the namesake of Poling Hall.
“Mr. Poling’s legacy for education attainment is inspirational,” he said. “We’re all grateful that he took the necessary steps to ensure this great community and facility wound up in Columbus.”
According to Chancellor Steven Combs, Poling Hall has been the home of Ivy Tech Columbus since 1983. Before then, the college moved throughout different locations around the city.
“After more than a decade of having no formal campus, a member of the college stepped forward to establish a proper place for Ivy Tech in Columbus,” Combs said. “That man was Harvey S. Poling, Jr., and he served as a vice president and dean of the Ivy Tech Columbus and Bloomington region. … He led the drive to have the Indiana General Assembly approve $4.5 million in funding to construct the building you’re sitting in now.”
After establishing the campus, Poling was appointed to serve as the vice president of development and foundation director for Ivy Tech. He died in 1986 at the age of 53. The campus building was named in his honor in 2011.
Combs said the college’s new building will have a display in its reception area that honors the legacy of Poling Hall.
In regards to the building’s $3 million fundraising campaign for the building project, which will go toward “innovative equipment,” Copeland said that $1,789,670 has been raised so far.
Director of Marketing Chris Schilling has said in the past that state dollars for the project are $29.89 million, and the college is authorized to spend almost $32.88 million with fundraising.
At the ceremony’s end, Moravec was the first to sign a faux steel beam in commemoration of the building’s progress.
According to college officials, the new building is scheduled for completion in early 2022, with campus employees moving in over the summer.
“I can’t wait until we step into Moravec Hall in less than a year,” Combs said. He added that there will likely be another ceremony with a ribbon cutting.
Thursday’s event also marked the official launch of “Invest IN Ivy Tech”, a $285 million statewide fundraising campaign. School officials said that the campaign will help “provide greater opportunities for each of the college’s 19 campuses to educate, train, and support its students.”
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, Ivy Tech President Dr. Sue Ellspermann, and other college representatives appeared in a statewide broadcast about the effort.
