Friday, March 6, 2026
The CSC Eagle Newspaper – Chadron, NE
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The CSC Eagle Newspaper – Chadron, NE
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Rangeland center takes root

T.J. Thomson

A group of more than 180 individuals gathered east of Chadron State’s Softball Field Thursday afternoon to break ground on the Rangeland Complex’s initial $2.9 million phase.

Several speakers said the ceremony’s Western elements were fitting to both the region and the nature of the complex. The ceremony, and outdoor event, took place on the dirt and grass a few hundred feet from where the site will be constructed, and included members of CSC’s rodeo team charging the hill to the construction site, armed with the institution’s flags.

The facility itself will support the college’s agronomy and natural environment courses, Chuck Butterfield, professor of Applied Sciences, said during the roughly 50-minute program.

Collin Chytka, CSC Rodeo Club member, rides up the hill to the east of the Softball Field Friday afternoon. Members of the rodeo team were at hand to support the groundbreaking ceremony, as well as illustrate where the Rangeland Center will sit. — Photo by T.J. Thomson
Collin Chytka, CSC Rodeo Club member, rides up the hill to the east of the Softball Field Friday afternoon. Members of the rodeo team were at hand to support the groundbreaking ceremony, as well as illustrate where the Rangeland Center will sit. — Photo by T.J. Thomson

Private donors funded approximately half the cost of the center’s first phase, CSC Foundation Board Chairwoman Fran Grimes, said. The remainder of the funding comes through an interest-free $1 million rural development loan.

The actual groundbreaking followed a series of seven speeches by college administrators, a faculty member, two community members, and Nebraska State College System Chancellor Stan Carpenter.

Joel Hyer, dean of B.E.A.M.S.S., said that the institution’s geographic location was important to the college’s identity, and that the Rangeland Center would further support this.

“One of the larger issues in higher education today is the struggle for institutions to figure out who they are,” Hyer said. “Identity. Character. There might be many colleges and universities that grapple with this. I would suggest that Chadron State College is not.”

Former CSC President Janie Park was among those in the audience during the ceremony. Park travelled from Montana to Chadron for the ceremony, and was acknowledged by Rhine, who credited her with helping “make this day happen.”

Charles Snare, rounded out the set of speeches with a quote from Charles Dickens–“The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists.”