Jischke announces building
project
By Luis Jiménez
Summer
Reporter
Purdue president Martin Jischke announced Wednesday,
during his monthly radio broadcast on WBAA radio's "AM-920 Magazine,"
the construction of several buildings throughout campus, part of a $200
million construction plan.
He said there is a need for new infrastructure
because the high enrollment of students during the past few years has
brought the University "beyond it’s capacity."
The University’s goal for the next few years,
he said, is to put a cap on enrollment, allowing only for 37,500 students
— a slight decrease from the 37,871 enrolled last fall semester.
However, he said, even with this enrollment decrease, the demand for
additional classroom facilities, laboratory facilities, research space
and office space at Purdue is "truly enormous."
"We need new facilities that keep up with
new technologies; we need expanded facilities that allow for an expanded
research program," Jischke said. "And we need new and different
kinds of classrooms and instructional laboratories that have the state-of-the-art
equipment that our students need to be educated on, if they are to have
the kind of world-class education we intend (at Purdue)."
Jishcke said the capital budget approved at the
Indiana General Assembly last month will allow Purdue to engage in several
important projects.
The first development he mentioned was the construction
of a 122,000 square foot engineering facility at an anticipated cost
of $45 million. Private donors and the rest by the state will provide
$10 million of this cost.
The new facility, which will be located at the
intersection of Northwestern Avenue and Stadium Street, will trigger
a series of developments to upgrade the Schools of Engineering facilities,
Jischke said. The total cost of the new facilities calls for a $200
million investment over the next ten years, he said.
Joe Bennett, vice president for university relations,
said the new engineering addition, named the "Millennium Building",
will be a general purpose building housing different engineering departments
such as the aeronautical engineering and the freshman engineering departments.
The other developments, part of the $200 million
master plan, include a new computer science building, which will be
located west of the Armory; an addition to the mechanical engineering
building and a nanotechnology research center.
The computer science building will be built at
a cost of $20 million with $13 million coming from the state and $7
million from private donations, Jischke said.
Bennett said the computer science building would
bring together the whole department under one roof; currently the department
is scattered in several buildings throughout campus.
"When this facility is completed, it will
give our computer science department the kind of facilities and space
it needs to remain a leader," Jischke said.
The addition to the mechanical engineering building
will provide more space to the actual building, Bennett said, at a cost
of $20 million.
Jischke said the legislature also approved a $5
million bonding for a nanotechnology research center, which was announced
earlier this month. The University hopes to leverage the $5 million
investment with private and corporate support, he said.
These new projects add to a number of other ongoing
projects at Purdue such as the $38.5 million expansion of the Krannert
School of Management building, the $60 million renovation of Ross-Ade
Stadium and the renovations of Cary Quadrangle residence hall.
Jischke said many of the research facilities such
as the nanotechnology center would be located on the north portion of
the Purdue Village, creating a new complex of research facilities dubbed
"Discovery Park." "Our hope is to be able to add to the
research facilities we have in a rather quick cost-effective nimble
way that encourages, in particular, interdisciplinary research,"
Jischke said. "I am very excited about this development and we’ll
have more to say about it in the coming year."
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