November 7, 2011
K-Staters attend ribbon-cutting ceremony of Kiowa County Commons in Greensburg
A group of K-Staters attended the ribbon-cutting and grand-opening ceremony of the Kiowa County Commons in Greensburg on Tuesday, Nov. 1. The Kiowa County Commons houses the Kiowa County Historical Museum, the Greensburg branch of the Kiowa County Library, the Kiowa County offices of K-State Research and Extension and the Kiowa County Media Center.
The $6.1 million Kiowa County Commons building was built to LEED — Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — Platinum standards. It is located on the east side of Main Street just south of the new Greensburg City Hall. The building features many sustainable design features, including the use of photovoltaics, light monitors in the roof, a green roof complete with a walking path, rain-water retention, water-conservation fixtures and the use of insulated concrete form construction techniques.
Greensburg continues to make progress in housing, business and other construction since the EF5 tornado on May 4, 2007, devastated the town.
Bert Biles, executive producer, and Brandon Utech, technical producer, both in the Division of Communications and Marketing, were instrumental in the design and development of the Media Center portion of the building.
Biles was one of several speakers at the event, describing the Kiowa County Commons building as "a miracle of the human spirit."
The Media Center's high definition video production facilities include a 22-foot HDTV production trailer for remote broadcasts and a state-of-the-art HDTV production studio on the first floor of the Commons building. The Media Center is providing live, global Internet video programming with support from 3tier Strategy of Wichita, and will offer high-definition television programming to Greensburg subscribers when the city's new fiber-to-the-home cable TV system comes online.
The Media Center's resources include an Internet radio studio, an interview studio, a small conference room, 16 video-, audio-, graphics-editing work stations to support production in all digital media, the building's technical operations center and staff offices.
Daryl Buchholz, associate director for extension and applied research, also spoke at the grand opening ceremony . He stressed the importance of extension service in its outreach role to citizens.
Other K-Staters attending the event were: Victoria Clegg, director of the Center for Advancement of Teaching and Learning; Steven Graham, assistant to the director of K-State Research and Extension; David Procter, director, and Dan Kahl, extension liaison, of the Center for Engagement and Community Development; Ernie Perez, manager of instructional technology in the Information Technology Assistance Center; and Steven Smethers, associate professor, Gloria Freeland, assistant professor, and Aaron Engelman, graduate student, in the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications.