Student Service Complex to change heart of IPFW campus
IPFW officials and special guests broke ground March 6 for the $42.4 million Student Services Complex. The project will include 173,000 square feet of new construction and remodeling to the existing Gates Sports Center, Walb Student Union and Helmke Library. In addition, the new construction will link all three structures.
"The Student Services Complex will contain collaborative learning areas, new classrooms, a student commons, an international student center, an activity center and an indoor running track," said IPFW Chancellor Michael Wartell. "The complex will become the heart of the campus with the relocation of the bookstore from the basement of Kettler Hall and the addition of both formal and informal gathering places."
The chancellor thanked area lawmakers for their assistance in shepherding the project through the state budget process, and praised city and county officials for their friendship and continued support of IPFW's mission to northeast Indiana. He also thanked donors for their financial support, noting that without the likes of local businessman Larry Lee, the indoor running track included in the new activity area of the Gates Sports Center would still be on the drawing board.
The project was designed by BSA Life Structures of Indianapolis, in conjunction with Design Collaborative of Fort Wayne. Wiegand Construction of Fort Wayne is the general contractor. Actual work on the project has begun and is scheduled to be completed in fall 2011.
