September 28, 2007

Purdue trustees move forward with biology, disease research buildings

Purdue will break ground on the $32.9 million Wayne T. and Mary T. Hockmeyer Hall of Structural Biology in Discovery Park in October. When completed in the fall of 2009, the 66,785-square-foot building will house the Markey Center for Structural Biology, which is currently located in the basement of Lilly Hall.

"The building will allow us to group our high-end instruments in such a way that researchers can easily move between laboratories and branch out into research techniques they may not have used," said Richard Kuhn, head of the Department of Biological Sciences.

Hagerman Construction Corp. of Fort Wayne, Ind., will be the general contractor. Gifts totaling more than $16.5 million will pay for more than half of the project with the remainder being drawn from the capital reserve fund for buildings. The trustees increased the authorization from $30 million to $32.9 million to cover higher than originally anticipated construction bids.

The board also approved hiring Scholer Corp. of Lafayette, Ind., and Harley Ellis Devereaux of Southfield, Mich., to design the $30 million state Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. The 42,752-square-foot facility will house laboratories to examine animals to determine if they are carrying infectious diseases such as avian flu and West Nile virus. The building will include secure ventilation, disposal and containment systems.

"This laboratory will be of immediate service to farmers and other animal owners," said Leon Thacker, professor of veterinary pathology. "However, its ultimate value extends to the entire state of Indiana and beyond because of its ability to quickly and accurately identify the source of potentially deadly and highly contagious diseases that could possibly be spread to humans."

Construction will be funded with proceeds received from the building being leased to the State Board of Animal Health.

Trustees also approved hiring VOA Associates Inc. of Highland, Ind., to design the $11.5 million Bill and Sally Hanley Hall to replace the existing Child Development and Family Studies building.

The 34,300-square-foot Hanley Hall, to be located near the intersection of State Street and Martin Jischke Drive, will house child classroom laboratories, offices, conference rooms and an interdisciplinary research center.

The project includes two new playgrounds. Construction is being funded by $10 million in gifts and a $1.5 million grant.

On Thursday (Sept. 27) the board's Physical Facilities Committee selected Kettlehut Construction of Lafayette, Ind., to build the $3.075 million Patty Jischke Early Care and Education Center. The standalone child care center, to be located near the intersection of Nimitz and Marshall drives, will serve approximately 86 children, ages six weeks through preschool, from the families of Purdue staff, faculty and students. The committee increased the authorization for the project by $75,000 to accommodate higher than expected demolition and construction costs. The capital reserve fund for buildings will pay for the project.

"The Purdue community has increasingly identified access to quality child care as an important and growing challenge affecting their success on the job," said Morgan R. Olsen, executive vice president and treasurer. "By providing additional quality child care on campus, the university hopes to reduce the stress to parents while they are away from their children and create an improved work-life balance."

The committee also approved two other construction contracts and approved the planning, financing and construction of two more projects:

* Kettlehut Construction was selected to build the $3.675 million Purdue Village Community Center. The 12,477-square-foot building will share a parking lot and architectural style with the nearby child care center. Departmental funds will pay for more than half of the project with the remaining $1.8 million being drawn from the capital reserve fund for buildings.

* J.R. Kelly Co. Inc. of Lafayette, Ind., was selected to renovate more than 18,000 square feet of Stewart Center's fourth floor. Most of the space will be used as a new permanent home for Purdue Libraries' Archives and Special Collections. The $3.6 million project is being funded by more than $2 million in gifts with the remainder drawn from departmental funds.

* Nova Engineering PC of Schererville, Ind., was selected to prepare the design documents to relocate overhead power lines, telecommunications lines and television cables to an underground ductbank along Harrison Street through Discovery Park. The $2.5 million project will be funded from the capital reserve for buildings.

* Honeywell Corp of Indianapolis was selected to improve and fine tune the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems at four buildings at the Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne campus. Savings generated in part from the installation of new sensors and controls are expected to pay for the $2.5 million project in seven years.

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

Sources: Richard Kuhn, (765) 494-1164, kuhnr@purdue.edu

Leon Thacker, (765) 494-7460, thackerl@purdue.edu

Morgan R. Olsen, (765) 494-9705, mrolsen@purdue.edu

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

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