By Kristina Goetz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

CRESTVIEW HILLS - For the first time since it was built in 1967, the library at Thomas More College will get a makeover - to the tune of $1.8 million.

After three years of planning, school officials announced Tuesday that the college received $800,000 from the Louisville-based James Graham Brown Foundation, which funds projects in areas of civic affairs, economic development, education, health and general welfare. Thomas More President E. Joseph Lee II said he has already contacted a few potential donors to cover the rest of the cost.

"The end result is just going to be overwhelming," Lee said. "I have a half-dozen prospects and have spoken to a couple of foundations. In a perfect world, by Jan. 15 someone will have stepped up."

The renovation will transform 36,000 square feet of space over three floors of the main academic building on campus with new furniture, acoustical ceilings, and an upgraded elevator to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines.

Plans also include upgraded technology, including laptop stations and modern facilities for research.

Tom Beck, a senior history major from Edgewood, has been working with school officials as student government president.

"The library we have now is up-to-date for 1975," he said. "It's not user-friendly. There is even duct tape covering some cushions. It's been in need of renovation for quite some time now."

But Beck contends that the library, where most students at Thomas More choose to study, has the most potential of any building on campus.

"It will be a huge draw for students and an incredible study space if they do half of what they're saying," he said. "It could become the gem of the college."

Six to eight classrooms will be added, bringing 400 adult students on campus, officials said.

Now, the college spends more than $200,000 a year to lease outside space to house the Thomas More Accelerated Degree Program.

In addition to saving the college money, the move is in line with the school's goal of creating a more cohesive campus.

The community will likely have access to the new computers and reference materials.

In the past 10 years, the institution has transformed itself from a small, mostly commuter campus for traditional undergraduates to a residential one with both graduate and undergraduate programs that serve a broader community. The latest renovation is the most recent phase of that change.

"What this project does is it brings us up to where we should be," Lee said. "It allows us to bring the entire college on campus. And we hope to have it finished sooner rather than later."

Depending on donations, the project could be completed by the start of school in fall 2004.

E-mail kgoetz@enquirer.com