New building to attract professionals

The last grassy area on campus between the Gallagher Business Building and Arthur Avenue will soon be dug up for the construction of the Gilkey Center, an executive education building.
Last Friday, the University of Montana held the building’s groundbreaking ceremony on the lawn behind Gallagher.

The university has been entertaining the possibility of an executive education building for many years, said Bob Duringer, vice president for Administration and Finance. But it wasn’t until last year, when Harold Gilkey gave a gift to the project, that the university took the concept of the building and turned it into construction plans.
The project is still under design so the final cost is still unknown, Duringer said.
“Four to six months from now we’ll have the final estimate,” he said.
So far all the money donated to the project has been from private donors.
The purpose of the building is to have a place where the university will host courses that are only offered at UM, Duringer said.
Some of the courses will last three to five days, while others might last up to a couple of weeks, depending on the nature of the course.
The courses are designed to bring people to UM from within the state and nation who are in the middle of their careers and practicing in professional fields.
amy.faxon@umontana.edu