The Elrod Center for Family and Community, a quaint element of Ouachita’s campus, will soon move into a new space in order to free up land on campus as well as help to better serve the community.
“Ultimately, we know this house is sitting right in the middle of a very important piece of land for Ouachita,” said Ian Cosh, vice president for community and international engagement.
The building became known as the Elrod Center in 1997 under the leadership of Cosh and has been the center for community projects for 16 years.
“We know that sometime in the future, this building has to come down, which is really sad,” Cosh said. “But instead of waiting for that to happen, it’s best to be proactive and get it in a permanent location and secure it for the future.”
This new location will be on the corner of Cherry and 6th Streets, across the street from the current Elrod Center location.
“One of the nice things is that it’s going to beautify the south entrance to the campus, which links the campus and the town together. Symbolically, it’s very important,” Cosh said. “And people won’t ask, ‘What’s that building for?’ like they do now.”
Though plans have already been drawn for the new building, construction will not begin until all the funds have been raised for the project.
“In an ideal world, we would get all the money raised by this year and could start on the building next year,” Cosh said.
A generous donation has already been given, which Cosh says is driving the project.
“We’re off to a very good start and we know that with the help of the development office, we are very hopeful to have the funding in place this year and start building next year,” Cosh said.
Once the building is open, Cosh says he looks forward to using the opportunity of revamping the location of the Elrod Center to take a look at refreshing other aspects of the program.
“There’s a fresh start energy that comes out of putting a new building in place. The act of moving is going to give us an opportunity to kind of rethink and revisit,” Cosh said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean a lot of change will come of it, but it gives an opportunity to take a measure of the moment.”
A challenge that will certainly come from the move is leaving a house with a relaxed feel to go to a building without creating a corporate feel.
“That may happen,” Cosh said. “Where the trick comes in is trying to hit the balance between feeling professional and warm. We’ll have to make it warm with the furnishings and décor. But that will be a challenge.”
However, the switch will be a positive one that will impact a large portion of campus for years to come.
“After I’m gone and Dr. Horne’s gone and probably most of the people who work here are gone, the Elrod Center will keep on going because they will have a beautiful building to continue on with the task,” Cosh said. “It’s a matter of being a good steward and making sure you leave the place better than you found it.”
