A dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15 to celebrate the opening of the Kyle and Ann Fort Arts and Sciences Building at New River Community and Technical College’s Greenbrier Valley Campus.
The 30,000 square-foot building, adjacent to Greenbrier Hall on Church Street, has been available for students on a limited basis since the beginning of the fall semester. A computer lab and classrooms are currently being used with plans to continue to furnish and open additional space in spring 2016.
The naming of the building is in recognition of the many years of service and support of Kyle and Ann Fort, who serve on the College Foundation’s Board of Directors.
“We would like to thank Dr. and Mrs. Fort for their continued involvement with New River Community and Technical College. Through the commitment of community leaders like the Forts, New River CTC is able to be a leader of higher education in the region,” said New River Community and Technical College President L. Marshall Washington.
Representatives of government, business, industry, and community organizations from across the region have been invited to attend. Following formal remarks, students will give tours of the building. Food and refreshments will be provided courtesy of Greenbrier Valley Medical Center.
Dr. Kyle F. Fort, M.D., F.A.C.S., and his wife, Ann, have served on the board of New River CTC Foundation and its predecessor institution for more than 20 years. Earlier this year, they established endowed scholarships in Nursing and Allied Health at New River CTC’s Mercer County Campus and Nicholas County Campus.
Dr. Fort has practiced medicine for more than 30 years in West Virginia. He graduated from Indiana University School of Medicine and completed a five-year Urology residency at the Medical College of Ohio before relocating to Lewisburg in 1983.
In addition to the most recent nursing scholarship endowments, the Fort family has previously created the Benjamin Fort Teacher Scholarship, Robert Patterson Scholarship in Math, and the Madlyn E. Fort Health Sciences Scholarship for students on the Greenbrier Valley Campus.
The renovation project for the Arts and Sciences Building began in 2011. The project was designed by E.T. Boggess Architects of Princeton and MBAJ Architecture of North Carolina. The building was previously occupied by the West Virginia Department of Highways and originally built as a student activities center for the Greenbrier College for Women.