September 28, 2001

WKU Finalizes Purchase/Gift
Of Bowling Green Mall

Bowling Green, Ky. - The first shopping mall built in South Central Kentucky will now become the first Innovation and Commercialization Center under the Kentucky Innovation Act.

Western Kentucky University has finalized the purchase of the Bowling Green Mall from Pete Tewksbury and Bowling Green Properties. Western will use a $2.3 million state appropriation to purchase mainly the unoccupied portions of the mall.

The $2.7 million balance will be placed in a charitable remainder trust and will be paid in 15 annual interest-free installments of $180,000 by the WKU Foundation from rent from current tenants.

The property, appraised at $5 million, includes a 242,000 square foot mall on 27 acres.

The Center for Innovation and Commercialization Serving South Central Kentucky, will include space to house the Applied Physics Institute (API), the Materials Characterization Center (MCC) and coal sciences; the central region's Innovation and Commercialization Center; and a proposed TVA business incubator.

"Both API and MCC do a considerable amount of work with and for private industry in addition to managing a number of projects for the federal government," said Ann Mead, Western's chief financial officer. "These units, and the entrepreneurial faculty, represent models of the types of programs that will flourish at the Center and will spawn business start-ups."

The ICC will assist primarily new scientific or technology-based companies by providing access to highly-qualified faculty, high-speed Internet access, highly-functional space at a reasonable price, shared use of equipment, venture capital application assistance and staff support, Mead said. It will be part of a statewide ICC program that will promote New Economy innovation and commercialization.

Many of the same amenities will be available for a TVA business incubator that will promote and encourage new business start-ups, Mead said. Western is awaiting approval by TVA and the Economic Development Authority.

Bill Brundage, Kentucky's commissioner for the New Economy, said his "expectations are pretty high" for the new center. "Once this is up and running, this center will help us primarily in the creation of new technology firms and in assisting existing firms," he said.

WKU President Gary Ransdell said the Center fits well with the University's commitment to providing service to Kentucky and especially the South Central region.

"When it was built, the Bowling Green Mall was a state-of-the-art facility and a symbol of Bowling Green's importance in the economic prosperity of South Central Kentucky," Dr. Ransdell said. "We will now give this facility a new purpose and a new focus and it once again will become part of the region's economy."

He said officials at Western were "pleased to be in a state of readiness to be responsive to that New Economy bill. We immediately began to think about how this region of Kentucky could be a prominent player and bring about a transition of our economy in this part of Kentucky."

The University's objectives include "breathing new life and energy into an important Bowling Green facility and, more importantly, using the intellectual capacity of our faculty to stimulate economic development and transition to a new economy."

Dr. Ransdell said the Center will partner with businesses from Owensboro, Elizabethtown, Glasgow, Hopkinsville "and points in-between. This will be the energy center of that hub and it rests solely with the intellectual capacity of our faculty to be the stimulus for economic development."

Pete Tewksbury, executive vice president of American Diversified and Bowling Green Properties, reminisced about the building he helped create almost 40 years ago.

"My company has had a presence in Bowling Green for 37 years," he said. "We have been very grateful for the service our few but loyal tenants have given us these past 20 years, but more importantly, for the service and friendship that we have had with the citizens of this city. The venture that will begin today is an exciting and new concept that will entail a great deal of work and help from everyone concerned. I have the utmost faith in Dr. Ransdell and his staff that this will occur in the very near future and I look forward on my next trip to seeing the fruits of their labors."

State Rep. Jody Richards, speaker of the House and a sponsor of the New Economy legislation, said that when built, the mall was a symbol of progress in Bowling Green. "Today, it is a symbol of the new economy," he said.

"As we look toward building Kentucky in the future, I think we have a tremendous opportunity to build upon what is here and make our state the neatest place to live in the world," he said. "We don't want to bring in minimum-wage jobs. My goal is to bring in jobs that pay well, that are rewarding and high-tech, New Economy jobs will do that."

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