WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue Universitytrustees on Friday (Aug. 2) gave approval to plan, finance, construct and award construction contracts for renovations to the Mathematical Sciences Building Data Center and the Biochemistry Building Office of the State Chemist Lab, both on the West Lafayette campus.

The Mathematical Sciences Building Data Center project will renovate nearly 21,000 square feet on the ground and basement floors. The renovations will repurpose and maximize existing floor space and expand the data center in the facility to house additional computer servers and an increase in supporting utilities. The renovated and expanded data center will promote additional advanced computing research. Construction is scheduled to begin in May 2025 and be completed in February 2026. The estimated cost of $16 million will be financed by Operating Funds - Reserves.

The Biochemistry Building project will renovate approximately 19,000 square feet, primarily on the first and second floors, creating a more efficient use of space for occupants while allowing greater capacity for the number of researchers performing work. The renovations will modernize and optimize the layout of available research laboratory space. Select rooms in Whistler Hall of Agricultural Research and Lilly Hall of Life Sciences will also undergo minor renovations to accommodate occupants during the project, which supports the College of Agriculture master plan. Construction is scheduled to begin in March 2025 and be completed in December 2026. The estimated cost of $16.5 million will be financed by Auxiliary Funds - Other.

Trustees also approved equipment replacement in the Willie M. Reed Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. This project will improve reliability through the installation of modern equipment. Work is scheduled to begin in April 2025 and be completed in December 2025. The estimated cost of $4 million will be financed by capital cash appropriations.

Additionally, trustees gave approval to plan, finance, construct and award construction contracts for the following repair and rehabilitation projects:

• Stewart Center and Purdue Memorial Union courtyard improvements
• Wetherill Laboratory of Chemistry lab drain and supply line replacement, the second of a planned four-phase lab drain line replacement
• Fitness and Recreation Center roof replacement at Purdue University Northwest

In other action, trustees approved the following apartment leases:

• 501 Indiana Avenue (located at its namesake in Indianapolis) - 427 beds in 159 apartment units for the 2026-31 academic years to provide additional student housing capacity on the Purdue University in Indianapolis campus. Purdue Research Foundation will execute the lease with Arrow Street Development, and it will be assigned to the university following required approvals. The total lease commitment of $28,095,222 will be funded by Auxiliary Funds - Housing/Dining.
• 5100 Saint Joe Road (located at its namesake in Fort Wayne) - 289 beds in 85 apartment units for the 2026-31 academic years to provide additional student housing capacity on the Purdue University Fort Wayne campus. Purdue University, on behalf of its Fort Wayne campus, will execute the lease directly from Gilbane Development Co. The total lease commitment of $18,046,264 will be funded by Auxiliary Funds - Housing/Dining.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue's main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap - including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative - at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.

Sources: Jay Wasson, vice president for physical facilities and chief public safety officer

Jessica Robertson, chief operating officer, Auxiliary Services

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