Sketch Plans Approved For Business, Forest Resources Buildings

March 21, 2003
Hershey, Pa. – Penn State's Board of Trustees today (March 21) approved sketch plans for the new Business Building and the new School of Forest Resources Building at the University Park campus. They will be among the four new buildings in the future East Sub-Campus, on the current site of Parking Lot 80 bounded by Park Avenue, Bigler Road, Curtin Road and Shortlidge Road.

            In other action, the trustees approved final plans for a dining commons project at University Park and a building purchase at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

            The Business Building project, on the corner of Shortlidge Road and Park Avenue, will involve the removal of the existing Mitchell Building. The 210,000-square-foot structure will consolidate the programs of the Smeal College of Business Administration, currently spread throughout three buildings, into the largest academic building at Penn State. The larger of its two four-story components will house undergraduate programs while the other will house the MBA program. A lobby and atrium will unify the two sections.

            In addition to the Smeal College faculty offices, research centers and administrative spaces, the sketch plans by the architectural firms of Bower Lewis Thrower, of Philadelphia, and Robert A. M. Stern, of New York City, include a variety of undergraduate classrooms, student gathering spaces, a caf  wit with courtyard, a Corporate Career Services facility, an Experimental Markets Lab and a Trading Room. Other features include MBA classrooms and study rooms, Executive Education offices, an outdoor terrace and specialized instruction labs. The four-story atrium will afford a view onto a new meadow planned for the south side of Park Avenue and the future Penn State Arboretum on the north side.

            Across the planned meadow from the Business Building, the new 96,000-square-foot School of Forest Resources Building will allow the school to consolidate its programs, improve the services it offers and promote its strategic vision. The building will house programs in forest sciences, wildlife and fisheries science, and wood products that are currently spread throughout four buildings. The new four-story building will be located near the corner of Bigler Road and Park Avenue, and is designed by Bower Lewis Thrower Architects, of Philadelphia.

            Included in the sketch plans are student activities rooms, teaching labs and classrooms, as well as faculty and administrative offices, a Wood Products Research facility, an aquarium lab and several conference rooms. The new building is being designed for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification as a sustainable and environmentally-friendly project adhering to national guidelines.

            The East Sub-Campus will also include a combined East Parking Deck and Chilled Water Plant, the sketch plans for which were approved by the trustees last November, and a new Food Sciences building with the Berkey Creamery. Nearby existing buildings used by the College of Agricultural Sciences will remain unchanged by the new construction.

The trustees also approved final plans and authorized the University to obtain bids and award contracts for construction of a 20,000-square-foot addition to and 24,000-square-foot renovation of the Redifer Dining Commons in the South Halls housing complex. The project, designed by Hayes Large Architects of State College and Childs Bertman Tseckares, Inc. of Boston, will upgrade and increase the serving capacity at the existing commons in order to accommodate the 2,280 residents of South Halls and nearby Eastview Terrace, an undergraduate housing complex currently under construction. With an estimated construction start next month for completion in August 2004, the $7.8 million project will include an expanded dining area with seating for 760, as well as a new snack shop, mailroom, storage space, computer lab and office and meeting spaces.

Due to its importance to the future clinical operations of the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, the trustees have approved the purchase for approximately $4.7 million of a building on University property that houses various Medical Center programs and an independent senior citizens center. The building at 660 Cherry Drive was developed by Cherry Drive Associates on 8.451 acres leased from the University following the board's approval in 1997.

            The Medical Center uses nearly 44,400 square feet of the building for its General Pediatrics, General Internal Medicine, Blood Donor Center and Laboratory Services, Hershey Cosmetic Surgery Associates, Women's Health Center, Radiology Services and Community Health Information Library facilities. Nearly 8,000 square feet is used by the Mohler Senior Center, the existing lease for which will transfer to the University.

**gwc**

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

For Artist renderings of these buildings, go to http://www.psu.edu/ur/flash/