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BEND - The residents of Central Oregon are invited to join a celebration at the OSU-Cascades Campus on Sunday, Sept. 22, as the state's newest institution of higher education takes a major step towards its future with the dedication of its permanent home, Cascades Hall.

The dedication of this $7.5 million, 38,000-square-foot office, advising, laboratory and educational facility at 2600 N.W. College Way in Bend will be from 2-5 p.m. The ceremony will feature a number of speakers beginning at 2 p.m., including Paul Risser, president of Oregon State University.

The event will include refreshments, live entertainment, dedication of a time capsule, and building tours. All activities are free and open to the public.

"Cascades Hall is a beautiful new facility that is going to provide a permanent base for higher education in Central Oregon for generations to come," said Jay Casbon, campus executive officer of the OSU-Cascades Campus. "With our first year of operation already complete, more students on the way and our new home ready for fall term, we feel that OSU-Cascades is really starting to gain momentum."

"This will be a happy day for many people across Central Oregon who worked for decades to make this new campus a reality, and we hope everyone comes to help us celebrate," Casbon said.

Casbon said construction of this building and creation of the new campus would not have been possible without the close collaboration of all the campus partners, including OSU, Central Oregon Community College, the University of Oregon, Southern Oregon University, Portland State University, Eastern Oregon University and Linfield College.

"Our close working relationship with COCC, in particular, has been instrumental in making operation of the new campus possible while our permanent home was being constructed," Casbon said. "We've shared space, cooperated on planning, enrollment and many student services, and really would not be where we are today without our partners at COCC."

Speakers at the dedication ceremony will include Risser; Casbon; Bob Barber, president of COCC; Jerry Colonna, president of the OSU Board of Advisors; Henry Sayre, associate provost for academic and student affairs at OSU-Cascades Campus; and an OSU-Cascades Campus student.

The new building is a state-of-the-art office and educational facility, officials say, and is particularly well designed to take advantage of all the newest electronic technologies. It includes two video classrooms that can both broadcast and receive transmissions; two large and sophisticated computer laboratories; a high-tech biosciences laboratory; and multiple classrooms and offices for faculty, student advising and education.

Virtually all of the upper-division coursework taken by OSU-Cascades students will now be housed in Cascades Hall, officials say. Construction of the facility began in April, 2001.

Fall term, the beginning of the second year of operation of the new campus, will start in late September. Students who are interested in attending college or registering for classes can do so until Oct. 4. Prospective students can call (541) 322-3100, or visit the web at www.osucascades.edu to learn more about programs, degrees, registration and other information.