September 26, 2008

Trustees OK $11.5 million Hanley Hall, Purdue North Central facility

The board also approved planning a $34.7 million student services complex at Purdue North Central. The 85,000 gross square-foot building will be used for student activities and university sponsored events.

A $3.4 million data center power feed to support high-performance computing equipment at Purdue Calumet and authorization for the university to enter into a lease on approximately 2.5 acres of land at the Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne campus also were approved by the board.

The Bill and Sally Hanley Hall will house the Human Development Institute, which will include programs and centers from the College of Consumer and Family Sciences and the Purdue Center on Aging and the Life Course.

It is made possible in part by a $3 million gift from the Hanleys, who are Purdue alumni, and $1.5 million from the Lilly Endowment.

The 32,600-gross-square-foot building will be located near the intersection of Martin Jischke Drive and State Street, to the west of Fowler Memorial House and east of the new residence hall complex. It will house offices, child classroom laboratories, conference rooms and interdisciplinary research centers.

"This facility will integrate learning, discovery and engagement focused on families and children," said Dennis Savaiano, dean of the College of Consumer and Family Sciences.

The project also will include a new playground, which will be in addition to the existing one that serves the Ben and Maxine Miller Child Learning Center.

Bids for the project are expected to be advertised in February with a contract being awarded in late spring. Construction could begin next summer.

The Purdue North Central facility will include space for fitness programs, competitive sports and recreational activities, as well as academic and community pursuits, said Stephen Turner, associate vice chancellor for administration and facilities.

The campus currently must hold games and practice sessions for varsity sports off campus, and intramural sports and related student activities are limited, he said.

"This project will fulfill a longstanding need at Purdue North Central and benefit students from Porter, LaPorte and Starke counties," Turner said. "It will bring the campus in line with other campuses in its ability to serve students by providing the environment and opportunity to participate in a complete program of intramural and recreational activities.

"Existing campus facilities can't accommodate meetings with more than 300 attendees. Many typical university functions, such as academic conferences, convocations, exhibitions, community outreach and the campus commencement ceremony, can't be held here. Senior administrators have taken a leadership role in forming partnerships and alliances among nearby businesses, local municipalities, and county and state government entities to advance economic development. Unfortunately, these efforts are diminished when requests from partner organizations for meeting space on campus cannot be met."

Design work on the facility, which will be located south and east of the Technology Building on the southeast end of campus, will begin in the next few months, Turner said. The facility is scheduled to be ready for use in fall 2011 or spring 2012.

The board also authorized the lease of 2.5 acres of land at the IPFW campus to be used for the development of commercial and retail space to provide services to the student housing complex and campus community.

The plan calls for the land to be leased to a developer, who will sublease sites to businesses such as a pharmacy, bank, cellular phone store, coffee house and/or fast food restaurant.

Student housing on the Fort Wayne campus began with a project of 568 beds that opened in the fall of 2004 followed by another 188-bed project that opened in the fall of 2007. In June the board approved the construction of a third phase of student housing that will consist of up to 450 beds.

The project will not require any investment of Purdue capital or operating funds and will result in a revenue stream for the campus, said Morgan R. Olsen, Purdue's executive vice president and treasurer.

The power and cooling expansion project at Purdue Calumet will support a high-performance computing cluster. Construction on the center is expected to start in late December or early January with completion targeted for the end of May 2009.

Writer: Greg McClure, (765) 494-9394, gmcclure@purdue.edu

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

Joseph Mikesell, (765) 494-3189, jdmikesell@purdue.edu

Stephen Turner, (219) 785-5304, sturner@pnc.edu

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

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