By Jeff Noble

Editor

Just over a year after Kentucky Mountain Bible College announced it would build a new Chapel-Fine Arts Center, the Vancleve school received the largest donation in its history last week.

And it was a huge one.

$350,000 - to be exact.

“It’s the biggest ship to ever pull up to our dock,” an exuberant Dr. Philip Speas said last Thursday in his office at the Paulo Administration Building. “It came as quite a surprise. They made the donation as a memorial to their mother, who was a very good Christian.”

Dr. Speas noted that the person making the donation didn’t want to be named, because “they didn’t want any publicity for the gift of kindness.” However, he did tell the Voice that the name of the person being memorialized would be recognized at the opening of the new facility. Construction of the new Chapel-Fine Arts Building, which will be located parallel to the Paulo Building and in front of the present Chapel on the KMBC campus, is set to begin later this spring. Formal groundbreaking ceremonies are tentatively set for Friday, May 18th.

“With this gift, we’re raised more than $475,000. We estimate it will cost a half-million to build it using volunteer labor, and $150,000 to furnish it,” Dr. Speas added. “If if were done commercially, it would cost a million-and-a-half dollars.”

While the $350,000 gift will go a long way, Dr. Speas mentioned that donations would still be needed, and that anyone interested could contact KMBC for more information. “We are primarily building this new facility through memorials. We have gotten 32 memorials so far, and that accounts for the lion’s share of the funds. We’re projecting that we need to raise $175,000 to finish it. So we’re making a push for memorials, and what better place to memorialize someone than at a bible college chapel.”

Once the first divot of dirt is shoveled at the site of the new building, there won’t be a shortage of people wanting to help, according to the KMBC President. “Our architect is an architect who specializes in designing churches, and he is also an alumnus of our college, so he’s donating his services. And this new facility is committed to framers, craftsmen, heating and cooling workers, excavators, cabinetry workers, drywallers and the construction manager. Most of these are professionals, and all of them have donated their labor in building this.”

Designed to be a three-story facility, the new Chapel-Fine Arts Building will feature a 250-seat chapel, two classrooms, one office, restrooms and a foyer on the Main Floor; seating for a hundred persons, one office and five music practice rooms on the Balcony level; with a full-sized apartment and a spacious area for offices and classrooms on the Ground Floor. With its design and location, the new facility is expected to have a prominent and aesthetic focal point for the entire KMBC campus.

On a larger scale, the $350,000 donation is part of a fundrasing campaign the school has implemented over the last four years, called “Raising the Standard”. The big sign with the thermometer rising in red on the campus has also been a focal point, reminding students, faculty, alumni and visitors the progress made in money raised. Since it began in 2004 and continuing to the present, KMBC (formerly Kentucky Mountain Bible Institute) has raised around $1,200,000, with a goal being $1,300,000.