Purdue approves 10-year capital plan
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The Purdue University board of trustees on Friday approved a 10-year capital plan designed to guide the university’s capital request for the 2025-27 biennial budget. The plan includes funding requests for two major projects on Purdue’s West Lafayette and Northwest campuses.
Vice President for Physical Facilities and Chief Public Safety Officer Jay Wasson said the plan considers facility renovations first, facility replacements where appropriate, and new space additions only when needed.
“Throughout this biennial update of the 10-year capital plan, Administrative Operations leadership recognizes the need to ensure financial viability and stewardship while prioritizing and contributing to student affordability and sustainability,” Wasson said in a news release.
One of the near-term legislative capital requests is a $160 million project to build a 140,000-square-foot facility in West Lafayette that will provide a shared facility for life sciences research institutes, including the Purdue University Institute for Cancer Research.
Having the research labs move into the new facility would create available space for renovations to current research spaces related to the colleges of Agriculture, Engineering, Pharmacy and Science, Purdue said.
The university is requesting $90 million from the state for the project. If approved, construction would begin in the spring of 2026 and be complete by the fall of 2028.
At Purdue Northwest, the university is requesting $19 million from the state to go toward a $23 million renovation project at the Hammond Student Union Library Building. Purdue said general academic classrooms and offices will replace space that will be lost from the demolition of Porter Hall.
Construction would begin in the summer of 2026 and be complete by the fall of 2028.
Purdue also identified a near-term project in the capital plan that does not include a request for state funding. The $56 million project at Purdue University Fort Wayne will see the construction of a 110,000-square-foot student housing facility that will add 375 beds.
The university expects to begin construction in the fall of 2026 and be complete by the fall of 2028.