Foundation spends $1.1M for house, land

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (AP) -- Bowling Green State University's foundation is spending $1.1 million on land that includes a new house for the school's president.
The foundation board voted Friday to buy a 5.74-acre parcel that includes a four-bedroom house with a pool for $750,000, and an adjacent 13.36-acre undeveloped lot for $350,000. School President Stanley Ribeau is expected to move into the house next year.
The purchases came a week after the school announced it would raise tuition and fees 9 percent for next year and cut $4 million out of the personnel budget by eliminating vacant positions.
"There is never a good time for a project such as this," said George Mylander, the foundation's chairman. "There will never be enough money. In the long run, this will be a true asset to the university."
Ribeau moved out of the current president's residence in November 2002 so the school could develop an extensive renovation plan. Doug Smith, president of the foundation and the university's vice president of advancement, said that proved to be too costly.
More than $170,000 was spent on architectural studies and subsidizing the condominium Ribeau moved into.
Mylander said the new house will provide a better location for entertaining and fund raising while setting aside space for private living.
"I'm quite comfortable with my current living accommodations, but I believe it was very strategic and gracious of the foundation to make this purchase on behalf of the university," Ribeau said in a prepared statement.