Purdue trustees approve child-care and agricultural centers

Trustees also approved selling 52.3 acres owned by Purdue to the Indiana Department of Transportation. The land will be used for a relocation of U.S. 231 that will run from South River Road around the West Lafayette campus' south and west sides.

Planning, financing and construction of the $3 million, 8,100-square-foot child-care center comes in response to employee requests. The new center will accommodate approximately 98 children ranging in age from six weeks to preschool. The on-campus service will be open to the children of faculty and staff at West Lafayette.

"Our goal is to provide a high-quality child-care program as affordably as possible," said Morgan R. Olsen, executive vice president and treasurer. "This is crucial to attract and retain the best faculty and staff."

Based on the 2006 benefits enrollment, Purdue officials estimate that there are more than 1,300 children of university employees age 5 or younger. The Miller Child Learning Center, operated by the Department of Child Development and Family Studies, currently cares for 75 preschool-age children on a full-time basis, but its child-care facility has a waiting list, as do many child-care facilities near campus. In addition, the new center would provide spaces for infants, something not currently available.

Construction of the new center will be funded from the capital reserve for buildings. Purdue released a request for proposals in May seeking a company to develop and manage the center. Proposals are due by June 30, and the center is expected to be operational in summer 2008.

The trustees also approved moving forward on construction of the new Purdue Village Community Center. The 12,500-square-foot, $3.82 million community center will include a kitchen; two lounges; three classrooms; exercise, recreation and play rooms; and a computer lab.

The center is designed to meet the needs of a broad range of Purdue Village residents, including students who come from abroad, have families, and/or have limited income. Two programs — English for Speakers of Other Languages and Women, Infants and Children — will each have office space at the center.

The current center is spread among four smaller, older buildings that will be torn down to make way for the future Discovery Learning Center in Discovery Park. University Residences, which is self-supporting, will pay for more than half of the new community center with $2 million in University Residences capital funds. The university will contribute the remainder from its capital reserve for buildings.

The child-care and community centers will share a parking lot and an architectural style. The trustees approved hiring CSO Schenkel Shultz of Indianapolis to provide the design for both centers. Construction is expected to begin on each next summer at a site near the intersection of Nimitz and Marshall drives after existing older apartments in Purdue Village are removed.

Trustees approved financing and construction of the Beck Agricultural Center at the Purdue Agronomy Center for Research and Education west of the West Lafayette campus. The facility will provide educational space for hands-on training using modern teaching technologies and include space where faculty can share research with each other and instruct people from business, government and other academic institutions.

"The need for this type of facility is pressing and will increase in importance as agriculture adapts to new technologies and continues to increase production efficiency," said agronomy center superintendent Jim Beaty.

The $4.1 million project is being paid for with gift funds and endowment income, with the lead donation coming from the Beck family of Atlanta, Ind., founders of the seed company Beck's Hybrids. Woollen, Molzan & Partners Inc. of Indianapolis is designing the facility. Construction bids are due by Aug. 31. Construction is scheduled to begin in October and be completed by Aug. 1, 2007. The dedication is scheduled for September 2007.

University Hall will receive a $2.2 million upgrade to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The work will be paid for with funds budgeted for ADA compliance. Dedicated in 1877, University Hall is the only building remaining of the university's original six facilities. Gibraltar Design Inc. of Indianapolis was hired to provide a design that includes a new entry ramp, elevator, redesigned restrooms and drinking fountains, and an updated fire alarm system.

"When university founder John Purdue requested that he be buried in front of University Hall, he ensured that the hall would long endure as an icon of the university and its mission to extend higher education access to the general population," said Wayne Kjonaas, vice president for physical facilities. "University Hall can now stand as testament to the university's commitment to physical accessibility for all of its faculty, staff and students."

The building served as the university's first library and also housed the university chapel and president's office. Now home to the history department, the hall was last remodeled in 1961.

The university will seek construction bids in October, and project completion is targeted for August 2007.

INDOT will pay $4.2 million for university property needed for the U.S. 231 relocation project. Sale proceeds will be used to pay for the reconstruction of lost facilities, including the Coating Applications Research Lab, Agricultural Engineering Machine Storage Building, Purdue Village Gardens, and salt and heavy equipment storage near south River Road. The money also will be used for the university's share of road construction and landscaping enhancements along the new roadway.

The proposed route of the U.S. 231 relocation runs east of the Purdue Airport, then northwest to Indiana 26 near its intersection with Newman Road. The route is almost exclusively through land owned by the university and Purdue Research Foundation. The foundation also will be selling INDOT 30.5 acres of its land for the project.

Purdue will work closely with INDOT on the roadway design. The U.S. 231 relocation project will include an extension of Intramural Drive south to U.S. 231, creating a gateway to Discovery Park and a new, formal south entrance to the campus.

Road construction is scheduled to begin in 2007.

The trustees also awarded two construction contracts.

Michael Kinder & Sons Inc. of Fort Wayne gained an $8.56 million construction contract to build two new student housing units to accommodate up to 188 students at the Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne campus. The new buildings will include a variety of one-, two- and three-bedroom units and be designed to architecturally match seven existing student housing buildings. Construction is scheduled to begin this month and be completed by next summer.

CDI Inc. of Terre Haute won a $3 million construction contract as part of the $3.7 million project to build a new printing services facility at the West Lafayette campus. Construction is scheduled to begin by no later than mid-September and be completed eight months later. The existing facility will be demolished to make way for a new structural biology academic building at the gateway to Discovery Park on Intramural Drive.

Trustees voted to reject bids for the largest project considered, the $12.2 million renovation of Wood Hall in the Windsor Residence Halls complex. All bids exceeded the estimated construction cost of $9 million by at least 50 percent.

"Because the construction industry is booming in the region, there were fewer bidders on this project than expected," said university architect Larry Fusaro. "Also, increased energy costs, particularly after Hurricane Katrina, and the escalating costs of building materials have resulted in higher bids on recent capital projects."

The Wood Hall project is designed to increase the building's lifespan and comfort of residents by creating more sleeping rooms, updating restrooms, repairing historical architectural elements, replacing an elevator, and upgrading utilities and fire protection. The university architect will work with University Residences and project architect Veazy, Parrott, Durkin & Shoulders of Indianapolis to lower project costs. Fusaro expects to rebid the project late this year or early in 2007. The delay will set back the multi-phase Windsor residence halls project by one year.

The trustees approved a three-year, $3.9 million contract with Dell Inc. of Round Rock, Texas, to renew the Microsoft Campus and School Agreement, which allows Purdue to license a variety of Microsoft software for faculty, staff and student use at a substantial discount. The license fee for each faculty and staff member is $44.05 annually and an average of $17.69 per student annually. Over three years, the contract is projected to save Purdue $18 million over standard academic pricing.

On Thursday (June 1) the board's Physical Facilities Committee approved several contracts:

• J.R. Kelly Co. Inc of Lafayette was awarded a $1.2 million construction contract as part of a $2.28 million site development project, including a pedestrian mall, at Discovery Park. Construction is scheduled to begin as early as this month, contingent on approval of the project by the state budget agency. The outdoor space is designed to foster interaction among faculty, staff and students.

• J.R. Kelly was awarded a $791,000 contract to renovate laboratories in Wetherill Hall. Construction is scheduled to begin this month and be finished in December.

• J.R. Kelly was awarded a contract for $291,300 as part of the $600,000 project to upgrade electrical distribution in Hovde Hall.

• Huston Electric Inc. of Lafayette was awarded a $338,710 contract to install underground duct banks near University Hall, the Electrical Engineering Building, Elliott Hall of Music and the Purdue Armory. The contract is part of a $23.6 million project to upgrade older high-voltage electrical utilities. Construction is scheduled for completion by late summer.

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

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

Jim Beaty, (765) 463-2632, jbeaty@purdue.edu

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

Larry Fusaro, (765) 494-8003, ljfusaro@purdue.edu

Debbie Calder, INDOT media contact, (765) 361-5236, dcalder@indot.in.gov

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

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