A topping out ceremony for Ball State's Communication and Media Building will take place at 9 a.m. Dec. 14 at the construction site just south of the intersection of McKinley and Petty.

The building, which is being constructed between the Robert Bell Building and the Ball Communication Building, is slated to be complete by summer 2007. When the building is completed, all four of the departments of the College of Communication, Information, and Media (CCIM) will be connected through a three-building conjoined complex, which will include the Art and Journalism Building and the Ball Communication Building. Part of the $21 million structure will also be used to expand the university's Center for Media Design (CMD).

Roger Lavery, dean of CCIM, will deliver the keynote address during the brief ceremony. Lavery and other dignitaries will also sign the final beam before it's hoisted into place.

"The weather may be cold, but that won't stop us from celebrating this building, which will bring together all four units of the college for the first time in its 10-year history," Lavery said. "It will also give Ball State students and faculty an outstanding environment in which to continue our leading-edge efforts in creating content for digital media."

MSKTD and Associates Inc., of Fort Wayne designed the building, and the contractor is W.A. Sheets and Sons also of Fort Wayne. The Indiana General Assembly and the state budget committee approved bonding authority for the project in 2003.

(Note to editors: For more information, contact Lavery at (765) 285-6000 or rlavery@bsu.edu.)