Seven-figure gift will support a new building on Park University’s campus

The Robert W. Plaster Foundation of Lebanon, Mo., has given a major gift to Park University in Parkville.

The university said Tuesday that the “seven-figure” philanthropy will allow construction of a 20,500-square-foot School of Business building that will be named the Robert W. Plaster Free Enterprise Center.

Additional fundraising and planning continues, with a groundbreaking expected in 2018.

The Plaster Center also will house the Park Global Warrior Center, a service office for service members and veterans.

Plans for the new building call for it to be built on the east side of the campus near the university’s main entrance. It will include a finance lab, a video production studio, an innovation and entrepreneurship lab, and a student lounge.

Greg Gunderson, Park University president, said the new building will better equip students with the “modernized, state-of-the-art facility” needed to prepare them for the workforce.

The Robert W. Plaster Foundation’s mission is described as “to promote expanded educational opportunities, pride in America and belief in the free enterprise system, for the benefit of America’s youth, through named capital projects.”

Plaster, who grew up in Neosho, Mo., eventually worked for a liquid propane gas company before he founded Empire Gas Corp. in 1963. After selling the company in 1996, he founded Evergreen Investments LLC. He also was a co-founder and supporter of Enactus, formerly known as Students in Free Enterprise, and served on its board until he died in 2008.

Information about the new building project is available from Nathan Marticke, Park’s associate vice president for university advancement, at nathan.marticke@park.edu.

This story was originally published February 28, 2017 at 11:40 AM with the headline "Seven-figure gift will support a new building on Park University’s campus."