IUPUI plans $50 million campus center

"This is another steppingstone in making IUPUI more of a traditional campus," said senior Andrew Hutton, vice president of the Undergraduate Student Assembly.\nUniversity officials and student leaders say the Campus Center, along with apartment-style student housing that will open in August, help continue the 33-year-old school's evolution from a commuter campus to a place where more of its 29,000 students come to stay. Currently, less than 4 percent of IUPUI students live on campus.\nWhen it opens in 2006, the 173,000-square-foot center will feature a 167-foot bell tower with a clock that will be visible from area interstates.\n"We hope it will become a landmark building in the Downtown area," said Karen Whitney, vice chancellor for student life and diversity.\nThe four-story building will include a 1,000-seat multipurpose room and a 250-seat theater, along with a bookstore and other student services.\nDesign plans will be submitted to IU trustees for final approval in August. The campus police building on the site will be demolished, and the police will move into Ball Residence Hall.\nBonds will finance $10 million of the construction costs. Students will finance $20 million through activity fees and another $20 million will be paid through rent charged for retail and other services.\nThat likely will include food services, if IUPUI can settle a legal battle with the University Development Group over food-service rights.\nOfficials also want to raise at least $10 million to create an endowment to pay for programming at the center, such as speakers, lectures and a film series.