Committee approves expansion of 2 Calumet buildings
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue University trustees' Physical Facilities Committee on Thursday (Feb. 11) approved renovating two buildings on the Calumet campus.
Purdue University Calumet will convert the Calumet Conference Center into the Purdue University Calumet White Lodging Center for Hospitality and Tourism Management. The committee approved the selection of Scholer Corp. of Lafayette, Ind., to design the project that affects approximately 11,000 square feet of space.
"Having a building dedicated to hospitality and tourism management will allow us to increase the number of students in the major from 250 to over 400 by 2014," said the center's executive director Michael J. Flannery, professor of hospitality and tourism management. "We look forward to making an even greater contribution to the worldwide reputation for excellence Purdue has earned in this field."
The $4.7 million project will be paid for with $3 million in gifts, with the remainder coming from Purdue Calumet reserves.
Purdue Calumet also will renovate about 5,000 square feet of the Powers Computer Education Building to house the Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation. More than 5,000 square feet of new space will be built adjacent to the Powers building to house the Immersion Theater, faculty offices and mechanical space.
"The vast amount of data generated in the Information Age loses value unless researchers have the ability to collate, access and recombine it in ways that are understandable and usable to humans," said Calumet Chancellor Howard Cohen. "This facility will help faculty and generations of students make breakthroughs in many fields for years to come."
The committee approved the selection of Scholer Corp. to design the $3.7 million project. Federal grants totaling $2.7 million will pay for most of the cost, with the remainder coming from Purdue Calumet reserves.
Writer: Jim Schenke, 765-494-6262, jschenke@purdue.edu
Sources: Michael Flannery, 219-989-2384, mike@caumet.purdue.edu
Howard Cohen, 219-989-2204, Hcohen@calumet.purdue.edu