By 2011, the enclosed bridge that links the Henderson Building with Henderson South will be demolished and a new home for the Department of Biobehavioral Health and three research centers will be constructed, the Penn State Board of Trustees decided at its meeting today.
The board selected a Wilkes-Barre-based architect to design the planned expansion of the College of Health and Human Development's Henderson Building.
The first phase of the project, expected to cost just more than $46 million, includes demolishing the existing bridge and building the department's new home plus the research centers by 2011.
The second phase of the project will get rid of underutilized western and southern portions of Henderson South then convert those areas into a 72,000 square foot building which will face College Avenue. The new building will house the Department of Human Development and Family Studies and two research centers.
Senior vice president of finance and board treasurer Gary Schultz did not provide a timeline or expected cost for phase two in his presentation to the board.
When asked by trustee David Jones about the Penn State football team's "off-field antics," athletic director Tim Curley urged the board to put the actions of a few in the context of the academic success and personal responsibility of the majority of student-athletes.
"With a high-visibility program like we have, when you do stub your toe, it's going to be nationally recognized," Curley said.
Ford Stryker, associate vice president of the Office of Physical Plant, presented construction updates on the new Student Health Center, the Lewis Katz building, affiliated with Penn State's Dickinson Law School and the cancer institute at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
The board's Committee on Finance and Physical Plant voted to approve a University Park Airport/Centre County Airport Authority land swap that could lay the groundwork for a $5 million air traffic control tower. It also authorized the purchase of an $185,000 former church in Altoona that will house the commonwealth campus's new Visual Art Studies program.
