Purdue University will unveil new campus master plan Oct. 12

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The campus community and the public are invited to an unveiling event for the new West Lafayette campus master plan following the Purdue University Board of Trustees meeting on Friday, Oct. 12.

The new plan, replacing one from 2009, leverages recent investments, such as the State Street Redevelopment Project, the Wilmeth Active Learning Center and the Centennial Mall renovation, and focuses on themes that will be key in the future: connectivity, collaboration, vibrancy, sustainability and flexibility.

Purdue Physical Facilities partnered with Ayers Saint Gross, a leading national architecture and campus planning firm, over the course of the last two years to study and envision how the campus’s physical space could best support the university’s strategic priorities. Throughout this process, Physical Facilities gathered input from a wide variety of stakeholders, including students, faculty, staff, the Board of Trustees and the community, and took other concurrent master plans into account, including the new Discovery Park District Master Plan, in order to ensure that the plan is representative, comprehensive and effective.

“Our organization and our partner firm have invested a lot of time and resources on the development of this new plan,” said Jay Wasson, chief operations officer for Physical Facilities. “We’ve listened to the feedback we received and outlined five strategic goals that will help will set the framework for future campus development.”

The Board of Trustees will be asked to endorse the plan at the Oct.12 meeting, and the unveiling event will occur upon completion of the meeting at approximately noon in the Purdue Memorial Union Main Lounges on the first floor.

Michael Berghoff, chairman of the Board of Trustees; Gary Lehman, chair of the Physical Facilities Committee; Adam Gross, principal at Ayers Saint Gross and Michael B. Cline, senior vice president for Administrative Operations, will give remarks and introduce the new master plan with a short video.

“We’ve named this plan the Giant Leaps Master Plan in order to align with the university’s sesquicentennial celebration and to reinforce that this strategy will help enable the next 50 years of giant leaps on the West Lafayette campus,” said Wasson. “We’re excited to share the plan and encourage everyone to attend the event.” 

_ _ _ 

The Purdue University Sesquicentennial Campaign, 150 Years of Giant Leaps, is a yearlong celebration of Purdue, its remarkable people, its unique history and its visionary drive to meet the world’s future challenges. From Homecoming 2018 through Homecoming 2019, the Purdue community will spend the year celebrating its unique legacy, which has included giant leaps across every field of endeavor, and further advancing the mission set forth since its founding as a land-grant university in 1869. With the campaign serving as a springboard for a renewed commitment to growth, innovation and discovery, Purdue’s call is simple: Whatever your pursuit, take Giant Leaps.           

Media contact: Rebecca Terry, 765-494-2077, rlterry@purdue.edu