LINCOLN - A Lincoln businessman and his family have donated a 1,620-square-foot building to Lincoln College.

Gene Burwell, owner of Lincoln-based Burwell Management Co. (formerly known as Burwell Oil), made the gift of 510 Keokuk St. on behalf of his family. The building at one time housed a Pizza Hut restaurant, but about five years ago the restaurant chain moved its Lincoln operations to Woodlawn Street.

Burwell, who has called the Logan County community home since 1954, said his family made the donation as a way to support the city as a whole and the college's new endeavors in particular.

"We just thought it would be a good way to support the community, and with the college wanting to expand into medical classes, they felt the building would make a good addition," he said.

Lincoln College already owns buildings on the 300 and 400 blocks of Keokuk, so this additional property easily can be absorbed into the campus, said Lincoln College President John Hutchinson.

Official plans for the $180,000 building haven't been made, but administrators are leaning toward a remodeling project that would turn the structure into a laboratory classroom for the school's new pre-medical program.

Lincoln College recruiters hope to begin a three-year, pre-med studies sequence next fall with about 25 students. "We've already had 100 inquiries about the program," said Hutchinson.

The pre-med program would build on Lincoln's established partnership with the University of St. Eustatius Medical School on St. Eustatius (Statia), a Caribbean island in the Netherlands Antilles.

Under the program, students who successfully complete the Lincoln pre-med sequence would be guaranteed a spot at the medical school and have the opportunity to return to Lincoln College-Normal for post-medical-school training.