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Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas The Sentinel-Record, Saturday, Month 00, 2012 El Dorado NEWS-TIMES – Sunday, July 9, 2017 – 5
History: Continued from Page 4
Scholarship Fund, according to an August 1997 News-Times report.
The first annual SouthArk Outdoor Expo was held on Sept. 12, 1998 with vari- ous seminars conducted by Charles Bridwell, Preston Pittman, Jimmy and Lucy Mize; Steve Wright and Brett Bahm. There was also duck calling, children’s casting, Big Buck and oldest gun contests.
In an August 1998 report, McGehee said, “I think (the Expo) might be bigger than MusicFest in a few years.”
In addition to being the college’s vice president for industry and development, he also oversaw the phys- ical plant operations, repre- sented SouthArk’s interest in the arboretum and lead the SouthArk Foundation. On Sept. 15, 1998, the college celebrated the renovation of the East Campus Classroom Building and renamed it the “Billy McGehee Classroom Building, in honor of and grat- itude for the dedication and service that Billy McGehee gave to the college and the community.”
“There were times I thought about leaving but I’m glad I stayed,” McGehee said. “President (Kathy) Matlock has been tireless in her efforts ... to make SouthArk the com- munity’s college.”
The long-time educator, who trustee Betty White called “Papa Bear,” retired late in the fall 1998 semester, accord- ing to a News-Times report. October 27 was declared “Billy McGehee Day” via a proclamation by Dumas.
The SouthArk Career Development Center held an open house for the new workforce “one-stop center” housed at the Billy McGehee Building. Director Cynthia Baston’s goals were to bring business and employees together; offer aptitude tests
and career development, according to an October 1998 News-Times report.
The college held a ground- breaking ceremony for the Computer Technology Building, which features a student center, board room and The Learning Center, on Jan. 22, 1999. According to a November 1998 News- Times report, the structure also houses a clock tower that Johnson and Chism Architects said “would add a distinctive element to the building and to the SouthArk campus.”
The Computer Tech Building, also the inspiration behind the college’s logo for quite sometime, was unveiled during a dedication ceremony in 2001.
At the dedication cere- mony, then-Governor Mike Huckabee said, “We dedicate this new building for technol- ogy — not with the idea it will save us, but to use it as a tool to make life better and more comfortable.”
The 1905 El Dorado School Building, also known as the Junior College Building, was restored and dedicated as the new administration building in 2002.
According to a News-Times report dated May 14, 2002, SouthArk received funding from the Arkansas Cultural Resources Council to upgrade its air conditioning system, roofing and entrances to make it ADA-compliant. The struc- ture’s three-hinged arched ceiling was one of the first of its kind, John Abbott, the building’s original architect, said.
“This structure is a rare find in South Arkansas and we at South Arkansas Community College want to celebrate and preserve the educational mission of the building for all past and future students,” then-president Dr. Kathy Matlock said.
In 2003, the community col- lege started to expand and establish East Campus beyond the McGehee Building, by beginning construction of The Center for Workforce
Courtesy SouthArk Library Archives and Special Collections
Costume contest: Students participate in a Halloween contest in the mid ’90s.
Development and establish- ing its “satellite campus” in Warren.
According to a News-Times report, guests got to tour the Center for Workforce Development that includes classrooms, conference rooms, computer labs, a CPR/ first aid training room; indus- trial electronic lab and startup room on April 20, 2004.
Matlock officially submitted her resignation in September and moved to take a job at Southeastern Community College in North Carolina. She was replaced by interim president Dr. Terry Puckett, who was retired from a presi- dent emeritus position at Pine Bluff ’s Southeast Arkansas College, according to a 2004 News-Times report.
Dr. Alan Rasco, former vice president for academic affairs and student services of Galveston (Texas) College, was hired as SouthArk’s next president on April 12, 2005.
By the fall 2005 semester, SouthArk’s student popula- tion had grown to 1,380. The college held a dedication cere-
Courtesy SouthArk Library Archives and Special Collections
President speaks: Then-college president Kathy Matlock, cen- ter, speaks with a group of students in the library in the early 2000s.
mony for its Network Security Lab, located in the Workforce Development Building.
In 2006, Rasco revealed a
West Campus renovation plan that included a 60,000-square
See HISTORY, Page 8