WIUM Local
(2008-09-02)
The new multi-cultural center at WIU is still under construction.
It might sound like a complicated process, but Construction Coordinator Ted Reener says a geothermal well is actually quite simple. "They drill 25 well outs and to the side of the building, they run a pipe down there, and they circulate a fluid through this pipe," he says.
The process might be simple, but paying for it is not. Geothermal wells can cost quite a bit. Reener could not give an exact price, but believes it will pay for itself within seven to ten years.
Western also received a grant of $100,000 from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation.
You can listen to an interview with Construction Coordinator Ten Reener by clicking on the audio button.
Additional information:
*The multi-cultural center will house the Women's Center, Casa Latina, the Gwendolyn Brooks Cultural Center and the International Friendship Club. It's scheduled to open in the spring.
*The building will also have a bamboo floor and grass roof. It takes just 18 months to grow a bamboo tree big enough to use for wood. By comparison, it takes decades to grow an oak tree big enough to use for wood.
*All of the materials for the project are being brought in from a five-hundred mile radius to save on emissions.
*Murry Street in front of the building remains closed while construction continues. It will re-open when the building is completed. © Copyright 2009, wium
