July 17, 2001
Abington, Pa. –The Penn State Board of Trustees today (July 17) approved final plans for the new building at the University Park campus that will house the School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and authorized the University to obtain bids and award contracts for the project.

            The IST Building will contain state-of-the-art classrooms as well as experimental labs and other facilities allowing faculty and students to teach and learn in immersive environments via high-end simulation. It is designed by Rafael Viñoly/Perfido Weiskopf Joint Venture of New York, N.Y., and Pittsburgh, and has a total project budget of $56.9 million.

            To be located at the intersection of Atherton Street and Pollock Road, the 199,000-square-foot IST Building will also serve as a pedestrian connector across Atherton Street. Pedestrians and bicyclists will be able to use the spine of the building to safely cross over Atherton Street as an extension of the planned Pollock Road mall, along which people will encounter classrooms, IST displays, an atrium and a café. This connector will rise at a 4 percent slope from either side of the building to meet its second floor as it crosses the street, and will be flanked by study carrels, computer classrooms and meeting rooms.

            The first floor will include computer classrooms; meeting rooms; administrative offices for IST, E-Government, the Solutions Institute and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the College of Engineering; and mechanical and support facilities. A high-tech auditorium, or cybertorium, will be accessed from both the first floor and a large lobby space on the second floor. The third floor will house faculty, support staff and graduate student offices; research laboratory spaces; meeting rooms; and the IST Dean’s Suite.

            A park-like setting with curvilinear walks, lawn areas and trees will provide an inviting campus landscape surrounding the IST Building. The building’s exterior will be faced with brick, glass and metal.

            Vehicular traffic will be removed from Pollock Road in the area of the new building, with an extension of Curtin Road near Rec Hall and the addition of White Course Drive on the western side of Atherton Street accommodating the closing of Pollock Road. The Lions Gate located at the intersection of Pollock and Atherton will be moved one block east to the intersection of Pollock and Burrowes. The new location will serve as the entrance to the historic core of campus.

**gwc**

Contact:  Gary W. Cramer, Penn State Department of Public Information, at (814) 865-7517 or gwc104@psu.edu