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Purdue trustees OK $60M Ag & Life Sciences facility

 
By JOHN BELDEN
Indiana Correspondent

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Purdue University Board of Trustees approved a new $60 million Agricultural and Life Sciences facility on the West Lafayette campus and took action toward building an equine center in Shelbyville during the board’s May 15 meeting.
The 123,000 square-foot Agricultural and Life Sciences complex, which would consolidate the Purdue Department of Animal Sciences, had been designated as the university’s top priority in a 10-year plan submitted to the state.
“Right now the department is in four buildings on campus and all those are actually scheduled to be torn down at some point,” said Jay Akridge, Glenn W. Sample dean of agriculture. “The facilities they have now are antiquated, and not where we need to be to do world-class research and teaching.”
Having mostly been built in the 1940s and ‘50s, however, the buildings are not considered historic. Remodeling had been considered, Ackridge said, but the cost was higher than for building the new singular facility.
“This new location will provide the facilities needed to maintain our continued recognition as a premier program,” he said, “and attract top students and faculty, as well as to support the animal industries in our state and around the world at the highest levels.”
“We’re very excited,” said Alan G. Mathew, Purdue’s head of animal sciences. “Among the things it will bring is an opportunity for our entire faculty to be housed in one facility. (Working in different buildings now) limits the opportunity for daily interactions, exchange of ideas and, to some degree, collaborative research.
“Absolutely, it will bring more current research space that will allow us to conduct research more relevant to our stakeholders’ needs. It provides the opportunity for more basic and molecular research that’s really a part of agriculture now. We were not able to do that in our old facilities.
“It will also provide more interactive space for students,” Mathew added, “so they can work as groups and teams and in a more open collaborative setting, which is how they’ll work in their careers –  as teams gathering around and getting ideas out in a more collaborative way. So, having that more interactive classroom space is really more important for us as well.”
The location of the new facility will also be a benefit.
“It will be located just a block west of the College of Veterinary Medicine,” he said. “We have collaborations with many of their faculty, so it adds some opportunities to do some things because of that proximity.
“And we’re also very close to Discovery Park, which has more innovative research space and will allow greater collaboration that way. They have the technology; they’re looking for applications. We can provide them with the applications and connecting with those engineers and technical experts will be an advantage for us, moving our research forward.
“In animal science, we deal with live animals. Our students need experience with live animals – judging teams, for example. So the location being on the southwest corner of campus, very close to the new U.S. 231 bypass, facilitates the movement of live animals to and from the new facility, so that’s a convenience we’ll really appreciate as well,” Mathew noted.
Part of the financing for constructing the new facility will come from $35 million in student fee bond proceeds approved by the Indiana General Assembly. In addition, “The university has put $10 million on the table, and then we were able to raise $10 million from the industry,” Ackridge said. “That’s $10 million in cash or commitment from the Indiana livestock sector.”
Construction is projected to begin in February 2016, with occupancy scheduled for July 2017. Classes will resume normally during that time.
“I don’t foresee any disruption, because we are somewhat removed from the construction site,” Mathew explained. “There are actually a couple of buildings – greenhouses – between us and where the new facility is going. It may impact traffic a little bit ... but it’s on the southwest corner of campus in an area that there’s not much pedestrian traffic.”
Equine center

University trustees also approved requesting assistance from the Purdue Research Foundation to assume responsibility for the design and construction of the $8.8 million Centaur Regional Equine Diagnostic and Surgical Center, to be located near Indiana Downs racetrack in Shelbyville, approximately 30 miles southeast of Indianapolis.
“The plan is to have a facility that can be located in proximity to the racetrack,” said Kevin Doerr, College of Veterinary Medicine director of public affairs and communications. “There, we can do much more to support the equine industry of the state, by being in a location where we can treat equine athletes that participate in horse racing, and provide a high level of medical care for them that we’re able to provide horses here in West Lafayette.”
The facility would also benefit Purdue veterinary students. “It does enhance what we can do in terms of educating future equine specialists,” Doerr said, “because they’ll have access to cases they wouldn’t have had access to here.”
He also noted with its proximity to the track, the facility would be able to provide emergency care, as well as conduct research on performance horses where they work. Depending on the final design process, construction could begin this fall and take 10-12 months to complete, he said.
5/28/2015