IUPUI Campus Center, an architect’s rendering

Construction site fencing is up and campus excitement on the rise as IUPUI prepares to break ground to build a $50 million Campus Center.

An official groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled at 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, on the campus plaza adjacent to Cavanaugh Hall at the southeast corner of University Boulevard and Michigan Street on the Indianapolis campus.

IU President Adam Herbert will preside over the ceremony. Other speakers include IUPUI Chancellor Charles Bantz; Karen Whitney, vice chancellor of student life and diversity; and Jennifer Delaney, president of the IUPUI Undergraduate Student Government.

“We know that the more students get involved on campus—with other students, with faculty, with organizations—the more successful they will be,” said Bantz. “With 95 percent of our students commuting, we must work harder to help them get involved. Thus the Campus Center is not only a beautiful building—it is where students become more successful.”

Music will include a carillon selection performed by music students and faculty. Groundbreaking organizers chose to include bell music as a tie-in to the future building’s most prominent external feature, a 179-foot bell tower of limestone and glass.

Campus Center amenities will include a bookstore and a 600-seat dining area. The facility will provide learning spaces for students, faculty and staff, along with space for planned meeting events. In addition, the center will house offices for admissions, the bursar, financial aid and other student support and leadership functions.

Construction of the four-story Campus Center is scheduled to begin as soon as the demolition of the Bowers Building is complete.

http://www.life.iupui.edu/campcntr/