Sorority effort lets UA build $1.1 million gate

University of Arkansas Pi Beta Phi President Elizabeth Milburn (right) shovels dirt during a groundbreaking Friday for Centennial Gate, a decorative entryway planned off Maple Street near Old Main on the Fayetteville campus. Also pictured are (left of Milburn) Pi Beta Phi steering committee members Patty Pyle and Marilynn Porter, UA Chancellor G. David Gearhart and UA Director of Development Mark Power.
University of Arkansas Pi Beta Phi President Elizabeth Milburn (right) shovels dirt during a groundbreaking Friday for Centennial Gate, a decorative entryway planned off Maple Street near Old Main on the Fayetteville campus. Also pictured are (left of Milburn) Pi Beta Phi steering committee members Patty Pyle and Marilynn Porter, UA Chancellor G. David Gearhart and UA Director of Development Mark Power.

— A $1.1 million decorative gate will mark the entrance of what once was Campus Drive and will showcase Old Main at the University of Arkansas, thanks to a fundraising effort by the Pi Beta Phi sorority, campus officials said Friday.

The Centennial Gate is a gift from the sorority, informally called Pi Phi, and represents the chapter’s 100 years at the Fayetteville campus in 2009, said Pi Phi steering committee member Karen Morton, who graduated from UA in 1976.

The sorority announcedits fundraising effort at the site off Maple Street two years ago and proclaimed its success at the same spot Friday.

The sorority chapter wanted the entry to be a point of pride for its members and alumni and to symbolize the group’s longevity on campus, Morton said.

“But we also want it to be inspiring and provide aesthetic enjoyment for the U of A community,” Morton said.

Women - some wrapped in fur or wool coats - and men dressed in ties and blazers watched and applauded during its groundbreaking. Pi Phi members, Chancellor G. David Gearhart and Director of Development Mike Power held golden shovels and smiled as they scooped loosened dirt where the gate will be erected.

The gate, intended to last another 100 years, is of historic design and will be made of granite, limestone and wrought iron, said Mike Johnson, associate vice chancellor for facilities. It will rise nearly 30 feet with donors’ names engraved on and surrounding it, he said. A metal plaque will commemorate Pi Phi and UA, Johnson said.

Construction will begin in April, and it’s hoped the gatewill be complete in November, he said.

UA will not match the sorority’s donation, but the gate has been a catalyst for improvements planned nearby, including new lighting, realigned sidewalks, bricked walkways and repairs to the Fulbright Peace Fountain east of Old Main. The university expects to spend another $900,000 on those upgrades, not including new water lines and drainage, Johnson said.

UA administrators have wanted a gate for Old Main for at least 10 years, Gearhart said.

“Having private support puts icing on the cake,” he said. “We’ve been talking about gates, but we never had the money before.”

Old Main was closed in the early 1980s before a successful fundraising campaign led to its renovation, dedicated in 1991. Though the structure was saved, a plan to finish replacing Campus Drive with a pedestrian walkway that connected to Maple Street never happened. The space currently is a circle drive with a few parking spaces and will be closed in about two weeks toprepare for building the gate, Johnson said.

“The entrance will become a very prime pedestrian entrance,” he said.

Pi Phi members have raised funds for the project since 2007, when UA officials asked the sorority to donate the gate, said steering committee Chairman Marilynn Porter,who graduated from UA in 1975. The sorority wanted to make a donation to celebrate its 100 years, she said.

Raising the funds was not difficult, Porter said.

“We just said, ‘This looks like a pretty cool thing,’ so we raised money for it,” she said.

Pi Phi members raised 10 percent more than the $900,000 goal, Gearhart said. About 500 donors contributed, Porter said. Current students donated, but alumni led the charge, Pi Phi President Elizabeth Milburn said.

“This is an opportunity to see how Pi Phi works after graduation,” Milburn said.

Gearhart said the massive gate will attract future students, create a beautiful place for students to meet, and show UA is a top-notch university.

“We think it is important to have a very beautiful learning environment,” he said.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 02/26/2011

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