American Center for Inquiry

230 dedicate new CODESH headquarters

AN estimated 230 persons attended the gala Grand Opening of The Center for Inquiry, Phase II, on June 9, 1995. The 15,000 square foot (1400 square meter) centre-piece of the Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism's shared headquarters was dedicated by author-entertainer Steve Allen at ceremonies on Friday 9 July. Also present were Leon Jamfi, science editor emeritus of Time magazine; Herbert Hauptman, Nobel Laureate in chemistry; Stan Lundine, former Lieutenant Governonr of the State of New York; and many others.

The completed Center for Inquiry campus provides 20,000 square feet (1857 square meters) of office, meeting, seminar, library, and warehouse space which is shared by CODESH and CSICOP (the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal). The Center now includes a library complex with a capacity of 50,000 volumes, housing three special libraries centred on humanism and freethought, skepticism of the paranormal, and American philosophical naturalism.

Representatives from several international humanist and skeptical groups enlivened the proceedings, including Sanal Edamaruku of the Indian Rationalist Association and Patricia Lopez of Mexico's Associacion Etica y Rationalista.

'The nationwide and worldwide humanist movement will benefit from an impressive headquarters institution that includes library facilities, meeting and conference moms for up to 200 people, audio and video production spaces, and other vitally needed capabilities" said CSICOP Chair, Paul Kurtz.

Humanists around the world will admire this marvellous achievement, and hope to have contact with or even visit it.