An artist’s rendering of the new complex. (Click to enlarge)
Purdue North Central will celebrate the groundbreaking for its Student Services and Athletics Complex on Thursday, Oct. 16, at 2 p.m. The new building will be located on the southeast side of the PNC Westville campus.
“This will be a momentous day for Purdue North Central,” said PNC Chancellor James Dworkin. “This building will become the focal point of student activities on campus.”
Construction is expected to take about 18 months. One of the first events to be hosted in the new building will be the May 2016 commencement.
The building will include:
– 102,239 square feet
– Second level, with walking track and two exercise rooms
– Gymnasium and related areas. The gymnasium can accommodate net sports such as volleyball and badminton
– Bleacher seating capacity of 1,361
– Total event capacity of 2,065
– Two full-size basketball courts; a ceiling-hung divider can separate the courts
– Men’s and women’s fitness and team locker rooms
– Student government and organization areas
– Student study lounge
– Wellness center
– Game room
– Fitness area
– Great Hall with a seated banquet capacity of 500 and a seated event capacity of 980
– Catering kitchen
The turning of the first shovels of dirt will culminate 10 years of planning. “A tremendous amount of work went into making this building a reality,” said Dworkin. “Our area legislators were strong advocates for us and saw to it that the Indiana General Assembly included funding in its 2013–2015 budget. Locally, we spent many hours working to raise additional funds. Our community members donated more than $3.7 million because they know how important this building is to PNC. I sincerely thank everyone who helped make this groundbreaking possible.”
The donations include two gifts of $1 million each. One came from an anonymous donor and another from Dr. Peter and Charlene Kesling of LaPorte. The Kesling donation secured naming rights to the gymnasium, which will be named the H.D. Kesling Gymnasium in honor of Dr. Kesling’s father.
Dr. Peter Kesling said late last year when the donation was announced: “We are excited to be supporting the new Purdue North Central Student Services and Activities Complex and naming the H.D. Kesling Gymnasium in honor of my father. He, among other things, had the foresight in 1959 to develop the orthodontic center in a cornfield at the interchange of the Indiana Toll Road and U.S. 421. PNC has been our good neighbor across U.S. 421 since 1967. It has been a great pleasure watching it grow during the past 46 years.”
Dr. H.D. Kesling was an outstanding high school basketball player in Logansport, IN. He was a member of a team that made it to the 1918-19 state quarterfinals. “When recounting those days, he always added the fact that he was not a good student and the only reason he buckled down and raised his grades was so that he could be eligible to play,” Dr. Peter Kesling recalled. “Therefore, if it wasn’t for basketball, he might have stayed down on the farm and never had the opportunity to attend college. However, he continued his excellent study habits, graduated from Loyola Dental School and in 1924 began practicing dentistry in LaPorte. This is why all of the Kesling family will be proud to have his name associated with the new gymnasium. His story may also serve to inspire future students during their academic years.”
A construction contract with Ziolkowski Construction Inc. of South Bend was approved by the Purdue University Board of Trustees on Sept. 26. The $33.4 million project bid came in lower than estimated, resulting in $1.2 million in savings to be passed along to students. Funding sources for the Student Services and Athletics Complex include the $3.7 million in gifts, along with $5 million to be paid from student fees. State support will pay for the remaining $24.7 million of the project.