Breaking ground: Ceremony held for first Hammond campus building in 21 years
PNW administrators, construction and design firm owners, local government officials and PNW students all broke ground together during the ceremony on Aug. 23. The building will be a two-year project and is expected to be completed in 2020.
Indiana State representatives and PNW administration and students emphasized the future impact of the Bioscience Innovation Building on the university and local community during the groundbreaking ceremony on Aug. 23.
Hal Slager, Indiana State representative, who began working on the building proposal with PNW administrators six years ago, said the building will have a significant impact on the local economy and campus community by educating future workers.
“What we are witnessing today is a transformational project,” Slager said during the ceremony on the northeast lawn of Lawshe Hall. “Not just for this campus, but for all of Northwest Indiana.”
Tom McDermott, Hammond mayor and Purdue Calumet alumnus, highlighted the differences between then-Purdue Calumet, which he graduated from in 1998, and PNW today. He credited the change to Chancellor Thomas Keon’s vision and initiative to interact with the surrounding community.
“Purdue Northwest has a major impact on the city of Hammond [and] a major impact on Northwest Indiana,” McDermott said. “I was so honored to be here as an alumnus [and] so honored to be here as a Mayor to say congratulations.”
The 68,000-square-foot building, which is expected to be completed in April 2020, is a STEM-based facility. It will primarily house the biology and nursing departments, according to PNW’s website. The $35 million required for the construction of the building was secured on April 22, 2017, in the Indiana State legislature.
Tiffany Coffey, senior nursing major, said the facility will provide a centralized location for the nursing department and will aid in the departments education and research.
As the last speaker before the official groundbreaking, Keon noted how change has been a consistent motivator in his life and called attention to the opportunity everyone has to make a difference.
“We have more to do at the university; we have more to do in Northwest Indiana,” Keon said. “Let’s make Northwest Indiana and PNW the destination that everyone wants to come to; whether it be for education, vacation or to live.”
Upon completion of the Bioscience Innovation Building, PNW will demolish the Gyte Annex beginning in May 2020. The project is expected to be completed in August 2020, according to the PNW website.
