June 30, 2005
Purdue upgrades facilities, focuses on environment
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University's Board of Trustees today (Thursday, June 30) approved $43.6 million for West Lafayette campus infrastructure improvements, many of which are designed to protect air and water quality.
Trustees also approved additional projects on the West Lafayette, Fort Wayne and North Central campuses, as well as contracts for purchasing coal and athletic event management services.
"Purdue has most of the infrastructure requirements of a small but growing city, and it is necessary to make these improvements while preserving the environment, health and safety of those on and near campus for generations to come," said Wayne Kjonaas, vice president for physical facilities. "These projects will allow us to meet our infrastructure needs while practicing good environmental stewardship."
The projects to be funded by the allocation, which was included in the 2005-2007 budget bill passed by the state Legislature, along with cost estimates, include:
• $23.6 million for high-voltage distribution improvements at West Lafayette, a project that will eliminate an obsolete substation and modernize electrical feeds to 19 older buildings on the core campus, including Stewart Center, Hovde Hall and Lambert Field House.
• $9.5 million to ensure compliance with storm water handling requirements of the Clean Water Act. Storage of runoff in a detention pond without outlets could affect groundwater, Kjonaas said. Storm water instead will be filtered through settling basins before being discharged into the Wabash River.
• $9 million for maximum achievable control technology (MACT), as required by the Environmental Protection Agency, for one of the West Lafayette campus' coal boilers. In effect, the MACT project calls for the installation of a set of large fabric bags that filter particulate matter from the air stream before it leaves the smokestack.
The storm water and MACT projects will keep the university within federal environmental protection guidelines and should be completed within three years, Kjonaas said.
• $1.5 million for the design and permitting process on a new low-emission, coal-fired boiler needed to meet the heating, cooling and electrical demands of increased research facilities and more stringent federal air protection regulations.
Construction of a new boiler will require future state funding, estimated at $40 million, two years from now, said Morgan R. Olsen, Purdue executive vice president and treasurer.
Trustees also approved a two-year contract, not to exceed $5.45 million, with Coal Sales LLC in Evansville, Ind., to provide circulating fluidized bed coal for the existing boilers at a price of $38.65 per ton delivered in the first year and $39.17 per ton for the second year. The contract includes three potential one-year extensions that would have to be mutually approved.
Additional capital projects receiving board approval include:
• Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne will hire Vintage Archonics, of Ft. Wayne, Ind., to provide professional services required during the replacement of a 35-year-old chiller with more efficient and environmentally friendly chillers needed to cool existing and new buildings planned for the campus in the next several years.
• Purdue North Central will hire Carl Walker, of Detroit, to design a planned 400-space parking garage. User fees, not state tax dollars, will pay for the $5 million project that is needed to alleviate an existing parking shortage and accommodate future growth of campus programs.
• The Purdue University Airport will replace runway lights and surface taxiways at a cost of $1.9 million.
• The Aquaculture Building, destroyed by fire in 2004, will be reconstructed. Funds from an insurance claim will be used to finance the projected $2.7 million cost to replace the 8,600-square-foot facility.
As part of a long-range plan to modernize all of the West Lafayette residence halls, an $8.9 million project was approved to install fire suppression sprinklers in McCutcheon Hall, upgrade the fire alarm system to current fire code and put air conditioning in each student room. Wallboard, heating units and doors will be repaired or replaced and students' closets enlarged. Construction will take place during the summers of 2006, 2007 and 2008.
The trustees also voted to retain Andy Frain Services in Chicago for an additional five years to manage athletic events. The estimated annual cost is $500,000.
Writer: Jim Schenke, (765) 494-6262, jschenke@purdue.edu
Sources: Wayne Kjonaas, (765) 494-8000, wwkjonaas@purdue.edu
Joe Mikesell, senior director, Engineering, Utilities and Construction, (765) 494-7327, jdmikesell@purdue.edu
Morgan R. Olsen, (765) 494-9705, mrolsen@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
Related Web sites:
Aquaculture building fire
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