$57M renovation plan for Purdue buildings approved
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Renovations of three buildings and two libraries on the West Lafayette campus of Purdue University totaling nearly $57 million have gotten the green light from the Purdue Board of Trustees. The board also adopted recommendations for the school’s classroom master plan that will result in updates to 90 classrooms.
Work on University Hall, Beering Hall and Stanley Coulter Hall will begin in late 2023 with completion expected in July 2026. The university says the work intends to create student-focused spaces with improved amenities.
University Hall, which opened in 1877, is the only building remaining of the original six buildings that made up Purdue. The five-story, 34,000-square-foot building will undergo a complete restoration.
Once completed, it will house updated classrooms, collaboration areas for students, faculty and staff, and student services spaces.
Purdue says renovations at Beering and Stanley Coulter halls will create “enhanced, modern working and study environments.”
The project also includes renovation of 38,000 square feet of space in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Education (HSSE) Library in Stewart Center and the Mathematical Sciences Library in the Mathematical Sciences Building.
Those projects begin next June and should be wrapped up in December.
“The major renovations…are part of a comprehensive strategic goal to make Purdue University the most innovative residential learning program in the U.S. among large research universities,” said Jay Akridge, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity. “I know our students will thrive in these refurbished and upgraded educational environments, and our instructors will take full advantage of these spaces to deliver the very best in active and experiential learning.”
Once the Coulter project is finished, the Department of English will relocate there from Heavilon Hall, which will then be taken down.
Akridge submitted to the board an initial Campus Master Plan recommendation, which includes a proposal to renovate 92 existing classrooms that accounts for more than 116,000 square feet of academic space.