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PURDUE UNIVERSITY: BEERING HALL

Purdue University expansion into West Lafayette neighborhood causes concern among residents.

Purdue University's plans to expand across Northwestern Avenue into West Lafayette residential housing has met with some concern with New Chauncey residents in West Lafayette.

Northwestern Avenue has been the unofficial de facto dividing line between Purdue University buildings(with the exception of a parking garage) and the residential neighborhoods of West Lafayette.

The Purdue Research Foundation, which handles property acquisition for the university, is handling the expansion of Purdue University into Hayes Street in the New Chauncey Neighborhood in West Lafayette.

Eight houses on the west side of Hayes Street will be razed to construct Wang Hall which will encompass nearly 150,000 square feet for studies in Computer and Electrical Engineering. Purdue has had one of the top engineering programs in the nation, and prides itself on its preparation for future astronauts.

Some West Lafayette residents are concerned about the expansion by Purdue into Hayes Street and see it as encroachment into residential housing that is already overrun by the impact of Purdue students and their privacy.

Some neighbors object to a massive building replacing the distinctive homes on Hayes Street.

Proponents of the expansion by Purdue University into Hayes Street see it as progress and the opportunity to add needed classroom space coupled with new businesses that will offer expanded services to the student and resident community.

The Purdue Research Foundation is handling concerns by West Lafayette residents by proposing several meetings to let residents voice concerns and note objections so the construction of Wang Hall will blend into the West Lafayette neighborhood and be a win-win situation for Purdue University and the residents of the New Chauncey Neighborhood in West Lafayette. Critics of the expansion see this as a P.R. operation to swing public opinion toward the project AFTER the decision to expand because it is already a "done deal".