Purdue moves forward with food court, archives

The board also approved a contract to purchase approximately 200,000 tons of coal over the next two years.

The $7 million project on the ground floor of the Purdue Memorial Union will convert the Union Market, Villa Pizza, Freshens and the Union Station Dining Room into a streetscape of progressive, quick-service restaurants, said John A. Sautter, vice president for housing and food services. A large air-handling unit also will be replaced.

"This renovation will significantly improve customer service and options and provide greater flexibility for accommodating future culinary trends," Sautter said.

R.L. Turner Corp. of Zionsville, Ind., was awarded the nearly $5.1 million construction contract.

The board also approved an increased authorization of $840,000 for the project in large part because construction bids came in higher than estimated. The entire $7 million budget will be funded by Purdue Memorial Union departmental funds.

Freshens closes on Saturday (Dec. 16) and Union Market and will close on Monday (Dec. 18). A temporary take-out market will be opened in the union across from the Oasis café. Villa Pizza will remain open until Spring Break. Pappy's, Starbucks, the Oasis and Sagamore Restaurant will remain open for the duration of construction of the new complex, which is scheduled to begin in January and be complete by Aug. 1.

At that time, Mexican restaurant La Salsa, gourmet sandwich restaurant Flatbreads, an expanded Villa Pizza, and juice and smoothie bar Zia will open. In October Lemongrass, a Thai and Asian restaurant, and Urban Market, an upscale convenience store and cereal bar, will open in the former Union Station dining area.

The new mix of restaurants was selected after input from diners, student employees, the Purdue Student Union Board, and hospitality and tourism management students.

"The goal was to come up with a diverse portfolio of dining options that does not compete with our current offerings," said Bob Mindrum, director of Purdue Memorial Union.

The board also approved hiring Scholer Corp. of Lafayette, Ind., to design the Purdue Libraries' Archives and Special Collections center on the fourth floor of Stewart Center. The 12,368-square-foot facility will serve as a repository for the Libraries' rare collections that will make materials more readily accessible to visitors and scholars. The archives will include reception, registration and exhibit areas, six staff offices and a processing room. The area also will include both a scholarly research reading room and a classroom for up to 30 people.

The archives will be equipped with security, fire suppression and climate control systems to protect collections that will include the papers and effects of such Purdue-affiliated luminaries as humorist George Ade, cartoonist John T. McCutcheon, Nobel Prize winning chemist Herbert C. Brown and aviator Amelia Earhart. Currently these items and tens of thousands of other books and artifacts are distributed throughout seven buildings on campus.

The $2.7 million project will be paid for with private support, including $1 million from alumna Virginia Kelly Karnes, for whom the facility will be named. For a related project, Purdue trustee Susan Bulkeley Butler also has donated $1 million to create an archives documenting the lives and accomplishments of the university's women. The Butler archives will be housed inside the Karnes facility.

"This facility and its contents will further mark the university and its libraries as world-class research institutions," said James L. Mullins, dean of libraries. "We will be able to preserve the unique collections and attract donations of valuable private collections of generations of distinguished Purdue faculty and alumni. We expect the archives to bring talented faculty and researchers to Purdue from around the world."

Construction bids are scheduled to be received in August. Construction is scheduled to begin in October and be completed by August of 2008.

The board also authorized the university to purchase up to $14.5 million of stoker coal from COALSALES LLC, an agent for Black Beauty Coal Co. of Evansville, Ind., for a two-year period that begins in January. The university estimates it will purchase approximately 100,000 tons of coal each year, with the amount not to exceed 125,000 tons annually. The contract calls for a rate of $57.10 per ton during the first year and $58.75 per ton for the second year.

The university will pay approximately 10.9 percent more per delivered ton of coal than the current rate of $51.48 per ton. By state law, the university is required to purchase its coal from an Indiana supplier.

The university burns the coal in boilers to provide heating, air conditioning and electricity.

Writer: Jim Schenke, (765) 494-6262, jsschenke@purdue.edu

Sources: John A. Sautter , (765) 494-1022, jasautter@purdue.edu

James L. Mullins, (765) 494-2900, jmullins@purdue.edu

Wayne W. Kjonaas, (765) 494-8000, wwkjonaas@purdue.edu

Bob Mindrum, (765) 494-8901, mindrum@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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