Trustees Approve Plans For Football Building, Other Projects

3-20-98
Hershey, Pa. -- Penn State's Board of Trustees approved today (March 20) final plans for the new Louis E. Lasch Football Building, a White Building expansion, a residence hall at Penn State Berks, a chiller building and a new parking lot at the Bryce Jordan Center.

The new Lasch Football Building at University Park will be an 89,000 gross-square-foot addition to the Greenberg Indoor Sports Complex. The addition will replace football training facilities in the current Lasch Building, making room for other intercollegiate athletic teams. The facility will include a 185-seat auditorium, meeting rooms, equipment storage, locker and strength training rooms. Final plans for the facility were designed as a joint venture between L.D. Astorino of Pittsburgh and HOK Sports of Kansas City, Mo. The total project budget is $14,700,000.

The addition to South White Building, on the University Park Campus, will include a first-floor swimming pool and expanded gymnastics training equipment on the second floor. Renovations to the aging facility will include practice and workout spaces and access for persons with disabilities. Wallace & Watson Associates of Allentown designed the addition and renovations. The total project budget is $9,000,000.

The proposed residence hall at Penn State Berks will contain 188 single-occupant rooms and 112 double-occupancy rooms. Occupancy for phase one of the project is scheduled for fall 1999, with phase two scheduled for completion in fall 2000. A 300-space parking lot will be constructed at the same time, to accommodate residents of the new hall. Susan Maxman Architects of Philadelphia designed the 122,000 gross-square-foot facility. The total project budget is $17,700,000.

The chiller building will provide infrastructure for the Leonhard Building and The New Research Center, which will soon be under construction at University Park. The central chilled water facility is the first phase of a $15 million project that will support the development of West campus. Designed by L. Robert Kimball and Associates of Ebensberg, the project will also serve future buildings with additional chillers and cooling towers.

The growing popularity of the Bryce Jordan Center has resulted in the need for additional parking. Penn State's Board of Trustees approved final plans to expand a 414-space lot to 1,170 spaces west of Beaver Stadium. The project, designed in conjunction with Walker Parking Consultants, will include landscaping, walkways and improved access lanes from University Drive. The total project budget is $1,400,000.

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Contact: Karen I. Wagner (814) 865-7517 (office) (814) 867-0797 (home) kiw1@psu.edu