Indiana Tech "bursting at the seams"

FORT WAYNE, IND. (WANE) - Despite the tough times in our economy, a Fort Wayne college is expanding. Indiana Tech plans to add two new buildings to its campus downtown, just in time for classes to begin in the Fall of 2010.

The first building will sit at the corner of Maumee Avenue and University Street and will be an 18,500 square foot mixed-use athletic complex. School officials say it will allow for more intramural sports, team practices, and general student use.

With a student body that's grown 60% over the past 5 years, campus housing is another concern and is the second part of campus's latest building boom.

"We're just bursting at the seams," Indiana Tech President Arthur Snyder told NewsChannel 15’s Matt McCutcheon Wednesday.

Construction on the Indiana Tech campus is nothing new; in fact, every year for the past three years, the campus has had to build additional housing for students, including Evans-Kimmell Hall and the Frank & Anne Oropeza Hall.

Just under 1,000 students attend Indiana Tech, and new row-style housing will provide living space for nearly 30 students in time for the Fall of 2010, with even more in the future.

"We expect we'll need to add more of it over time, and our kind of dream or vision is to continue to build this type of housing along Washington, approaching Anthony," Snyder said.

The two new buildings come at a nearly $4 million price tag, which the private school says wont be a problem despite so many other schools having to cut back.

"A portion of this project will be funded through donations, and a portion of this project will be funded through our cash reserve and our surplus. We won't be creating any new debt to do either one of these projects which warms my heart,” Snyder smiled.

Construction on both buildings should begin in the coming weeks. Schenkel Shultz will oversee most of the construction.

Indiana Tech still needs rezoning approval from the city for part of the housing project. Meetings on that are scheduled for later this month, but the school is still moving forward with its plans.