June 5, 2019
The Northwest Missouri State University community will gather Tuesday, June 11, to honor one of its longest-serving employees and rename its Power Plant in his honor.
The public is invited to the Power Plant for the event, which will include tours of the building from 3 to 5 p.m. A ceremony celebrating the dedication of the John C. Redden Jr. Power Plant begins at 4 p.m. in Lot 18, located between Wells Hall and the Power Plant on the Northwest campus. Refreshments will be served.
Northwest’s Board of Regents approved the renaming last December.
Redden, who died Nov. 12, 2018, dedicated 45 years of service to Northwest as a staff member in its Facility Services area. He began his connection with Northwest in the late 1960s as a general labor worker for a company overseeing the construction of Northwest’s Valk Center. He joined the Northwest staff shortly after to work at the power plant and retired in 2014.
Redden played a key role in the planning and 1982 launch of Northwest’s innovative alternative fuels program, which has saved the University nearly $16 million in energy costs. Today, the alternative fuels program is one of the University’s signature initiatives with wood and paper fuels accounting for 58 percent of the campus’ total energy consumption and 88 percent of its heating requirement. The American Association of State College and Universities presented Northwest with its 2017 Excellence and Innovation Award for Sustainability and Sustainable Development in recognition of the University’s ongoing commitment and results in alternative energy.
He also was instrumental in numerous building and renovation projects, including the construction of the former aquatic center, which was refurbished in 2015 as the Robert and Virginia Foster Fitness Center. As a volunteer firefighter, Redden helped fight the 1979 Administration Building fire both on the ground and inside the historic structure.
Used as coal-fired operation until its conversion to wood fuel, Northwest’s Power Plant was completed around 1910 in conjunction with the Administration Building to support the new campus. The facility is connected by a 2-mile network of utility tunnels throughout the campus that carry steam as well as HVAC-chilled water to more than 30 buildings.