MUNCIE, Ind. -- Faculty and students at Ball State University have joined the international effort to repair historic buildings in earthquake-damaged central Italy.

A fund has been created at Ball State's College of Architecture and Planning to help the Umbrian town of Foligno rebuild its 13th-century city hall, 14th-century city museums and other public structures after recent earthquakes in the region.

The faculty and students, some of whom have visited and studied in Foligno in recent years, hope to raise at least $10,000 for the town by April 1, 1998.

"It's not just one building; there was damage to an entire historic city," said Michele Chiuini, an associate professor of architecture and acting director of Ball State's Housing Futures Institute. Chiuini is a native of Perugia, Italy.

"This disaster has hit an area of great artistic and historic importance," he said. "The history of that area goes beyond the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi. There are hundreds of other churches, monuments and homes in the historic centers of many other towns that were also severely damaged."

Two earthquakes measuring 5.5 and 5.6 on the Richter scale rocked central Italy on Sept. 26. The quakes killed 11 people and damaged thousands of buildings in the mountainous Umbria and Marche regions near Rome.

Other major tremors followed Oct. 3 and Oct. 7. Historic city centers have been evacuated, and thousands of Italians have been forced to live in tents and campers.

The earthquakes damaged the famous 13th-century Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi plus more than 80,000 homes. Officials have  said repairs in the region could cost $1 billion.

Foligno lies near the epicenter of the first quakes. Bell towers on Foligno's city hall and cathedral were heavily damaged, as well as museums in the Trinci Palace complex and the planning office in the old hospital building of 1517, Chiuini said.

Ball State has a special rapport with Foligno and the region thanks to the ArkItalia field study program, Chiuini said. The program lets Ball State architecture students work on urban design projects in Italian cities every other summer.

ArkItalia groups worked in Foligno in 1990 and 1996, and Foligno representatives have visited Ball State twice for studio projects. The town has been restoring its historic center.

Foligno helped Ball State raise funds for the trips and develop a link with Italy's National Institute of Planning.

"It's a moral obligation to help them because they have been very helpful to our students," Chiuini said, noting that a personal bond also exists.

"When you stay somewhere for two weeks, you get to meet many new people, make friends and stay in homes," he said. "It's more than just doing a project. It's a human relationship."

Ball State students might travel to Foligno next summer to help rebuild the area, Chiuini added.