LAFAYETTE Ind.
Purdue University officials plan on moving forward with nearly $90 million in construction projects.
The projects include a new $53 million utility plant boiler using clean coal technology, a $30 million animal disease diagnostic laboratory and a $6.6 million addition to the aviation technology building.
The new boiler is part of a plan to supplement or replace aging facilities and make heating and cooling more efficient, said Wayne Kjonaas, Purdue’s vice president for physical facilities.
The boiler, which is expected to be in operation by 2011, will have the capacity to produce up to 300,000 pounds of steam per hour.
“We’re not horribly inefficient, but there is an opportunity to do better,” Kjonaas said. The new boiler could save several million dollars a year in operating costs, he said. It would be built with bond issue proceeds.
Purdue’s Board of Trustees was expected to discuss the project Friday.
The board’s physical facilities committee also discussed other projects Thursday.
The diagnostic laboratory will include animal necropsy, virology and microbiology facilities. It will also include housing for rodents, birds and larger animals such as pigs and sheep.
The lab will help Purdue scientists study and contain illnesses such as bird flu that can jump from animals to humans, said Leon Thacker, the facility’s director and professor of veterinary pathology.
Officials also discussed an 18,200-square-foot addition that would include new classrooms, offices and a computer lab for the Niswonger Aviation Technology Building.
–Associated Press
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