Can my indoor cat be introduced to the outdoors?

Question
Reilly is a 4 year old short haired who came to me in October. He showed up one night begging to be let in both the front and back door. I put out food and water for him but later when he was still waiting at the door I decided to let him in and he's been with me since. He had an upper respiratory infection, was  very thin, malnourished, and exhausted, he also wore a flea collar (he had fleas, since taken care of). He slept for almost 4 days straight. All this lead me to believe he was an indoor cat that had escaped. I put up found cat fliers on community boards but didn't hear from anyone.

Now that he's healthy and at an ideal weight he is extremely active, loves to run. At night he has free reign of the building and runs up and down the steps but during the day he has to stay on the third floor (the first two are offices). I play with him as much as I can (at least an hour a day) and he has plenty of toys but I still think he is under-stimulated. I used to bring him outside with me on the porch but one time he was startled, ran off and acted like he didn't know me, it took me three hours to find him. Is there anyway I can introduce him to the outdoors without losing him? He wont tolerate a leash, he tries to run away from it and i stopped trying it because I was afraid he'd injure himself. If it matters, I live in a quiet suburban area, but next to fairly busy road

Answer
Hi Mike,

You can do what lots of people do. Build him an outdoor enclosure. Here's a link that shows what you can do. The only thing that limits you is your imagination.

http://www.catsofaustralia.com/cat-enclosures.htm

This will keep him safe and allow him taste the outside safely. Hope this helped. Good luck and take care.

Ciao, Karen