Valpo to Buy Porter Hospital: News Conference Monday

[valpotx]

President Heckler is actually down here this Friday in Dallas to speak about the Master Plan.  I look forward to hearing from him personally, though I am not sure how many VU alumni are down here.  I will be just as interested to find that out as in hearing from him.

[historyman]

Actually, I think our campus size will decrease over time since Eastgate is clearly going to be gone within the time frame envisioned by the Master Plan spoken of by President Heckler.  Eastgate, which I suppose you could say was a decent idea back in 1970, is a bad idea now since it isolates the soccer and baseball programs and involves a safety issue, too, since to get there, most students walk across a road that is way more busy now than it was back in 1970.  I believe President Heckler mentioned in his last radio Q and A session that they were looking at the possibility of doing away with Eastgate.  

Just because the university plans to move the athletic facilities together in the area near Brown Field does not mean they plan to sell the land at Eastgate. To the contrary the university recently added land, some land adjacent to the property that it already owned at Eastgate, and will keep it for further building in the future. Why would any university shrink it's campus size? What evidence do you have that Valpo is selling Eastgate?

[vu72]

I wonder how many more years it will take to finally acquire all the house sites on McIntire (sp?) as tearing down those houses has always been part of the athletic reunification project in my understanding.  I know some of the houses are gone.  Any ideas or status?

[valpopal]

A video of the press conference:

http://valpo.edu/stories/porterhospital.php

[valpotx]

Went to the speech by President Heckler in Dallas tonight.  Very well spoken guy, and was easy to speak with.  A lot of interesting questions were asked, and he was very straight in answering to the best of his knowledge.  I asked about Eastgate moving on campus, and he said it was definitely in the strategic plan, just a matter of when.  He also mentioned that the Porter Hospital acquisition would help towards that goal.

[vu72]

Went to the speech by President Heckler in Dallas tonight.  Very well spoken guy, and was easy to speak with.  A lot of interesting questions were asked, and he was very straight in answering to the best of his knowledge.  I asked about Eastgate moving on campus, and he said it was definitely in the strategic plan, just a matter of when.  He also mentioned that the Porter Hospital acquisition would help towards that goal.

How well attended was the event?  Also, were there any drawings?  Any discussion of new facilities in the works or the timing of the Chapel renovations?  Thanks!

[agibson]

The timing of the Chapel renovations has been discussed around campus.  I might have some notes somewhere, but not handy.  First the windows: hopefully all finished this summer (weddings were canceled).  I think they'll take a bit longer to think through the addition.  I don't remember if that was penciled in for the summer of 2013, or if it's potentially further off.

[agibson]

So, if someday they relocate intramurals, baseball, and women's soccer to the Porter site - I wonder what they'll do with Eastgate?

The challenges: distance, and lack of good pedestrian access, would seem possibly _more_ challenging for any other use of the land.

It seems like it should at least be possible to fix the pedestrian access.  Would a crosswalk, or a stoplight or two, be enough?  I suppose an overpass might be an option, and if it's closed in winter might not be prohibitively expensive.

[sectionee]

I doubt that a stop light would ever go in there.  1 it would be too close to the light at 30 and 2 we here in Valpo are moving away from stop lights and stop signs and into the roundabouts.

I will be shocked if they make the porter property into anything sports related.  Thats just my 2 cents, which is probably all it's worth anyways.

[valpotx]

There were probably only about 40-45 people there, but from what I am told, we only have around 150 VU alumni in DFW.  He was in Houston the night before, and I assume the numbers were very similar there.  No drawings, but they did give everyone some basic Valpo stuff: car decals, pens, etc.  

He didn't get too detailed on construction that will start soon.  One guy in our session asked about what presence greek life will have in the future, and the response was that they want to create a Greek village where all fraternities will have their houses, and sororities will be given the option as well.  He was saying that he does not like the conditions of the frats that have those big dorm structures, and this would help with that transition to use that land for something else.  President Heckler did mention that he would also like to eventually knock out a portion of the ARC to expand the capabilities of the arena.  What that means exactly, I don't know.  He did seem pretty serious in saying that he wanted to move Eastgate on campus in this Master Plan, but when in that 20-30 year period it happens is anyone's best guess.  

Other things discussed on the construction front were renovating dorms (Berg, Brandt, etc), more to be done with the entrance to the university, some renovations with west campus, and the chapel restoration.  He mentioned the windows portion as being first, and that a couple had donated $15 million to the overall restoration...pretty impressive.

Outside of construction, the Master Plan seems to place an emphasis on getting a lot more students from outside the Midwest to Valpo.  We all know that we are trying to go from 4,000 to 6,000 students.  As part of that, he wants to grow from 300 international students to 1,000.  With the economy the way it is, and the emerging powers out there, they see the US schools having to compete more and more with schools in China, India, etc.  Also, with only 1 midwestern state forecasted to grow in the next decade, he wants more students from the South (Texas in particular because of our massive growth in population over the last 10 years, and projected growth).  Demographically, they see VU as needing to appeal more to minorities, especially the Latino population.  He projects that 25% of VU students will need to be of this background in order to sustain the university versus the population.  

Overall, it was very informative, and I appreciated his time!

[wh]

What's next for the old building?
August 25, 2012 11:54PM

Updated: August 26, 2012 2:05AM

Porter Health Care System is responsible for razing the old hospital, a fixture at 814 LaPorte Ave., for 73 years, before the 13-acre site is transferred to Valparaiso University.

But first, sometime in the next four weeks, the hospital will hold an auction at its old home, open first to its associates and then to the public, to sell off office furniture, wall art, kitchen equipment and other goods, Jonathan Nalli, the health system's chief executive officer, said Saturday.

Anything left over will be given to a select group of area not-for-profit agencies at no cost.

Almost 80 percent of the equipment at Porter Regional Hospital, at 85 E. U.S. 6 in Liberty Township, is new, and anything less than 2 years old in the former hospital was transferred to the new one.

The demolition does not have a date set, Nalli said. The land, along LaPorte Avenue, Lincolnway, Monroe Street and Garfield Street, will be turned over to the university shovel-ready for its plans.

Full details on VU's plans for the land should be announced in mid-September, a university spokeswoman said Friday.

Last September, Nalli, Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas and Valparaiso University President Mark Heckler announced the hospital property would be transferred to the university after it moved to its new location.

Heckler said last year that VU would use the additional acreage for athletics, sports and recreation, health and wellness.

Officials have not publicly disclosed the dollar amount of the venture or other terms of the agreement.

[VULB#62]

What's next for the old building?
August 25, 2012 11:54PM

Updated: August 26, 2012 2:05AM


Full details on VU's plans for the land should be announced in mid-September, a university spokeswoman said Friday.


Heckler said last year that VU would use the additional acreage for athletics, sports and recreation, health and wellness.

Thanks for the update WH -- I'm really interested in the level of detail that will come out in mid-September. I'm hoping for at least a conceptual site plan.

[valpopal]

As I mentioned last week in the "Campus Projects" thread, the campus master plan is scheduled to be released September 20.

[VULB#62]

Are we talking a graphics-based plan or a text-based plan or a combination of the two, ValpoPal?  A site diagram with proposed locations and sizes of fields and facilities would be much more imaginable than just a written plan (for me at least) and a diagram supported by explanatory text would be the best.  I suppose it'll be too much to ask for architect renderings too.   

[valpopal]

Are we talking a graphics-based plan or a text-based plan or a combination of the two, ValpoPal?  A site diagram with proposed locations and sizes of fields and facilities would be much more imaginable than just a written plan (for me at least) and a diagram supported by explanatory text would be the best.  I suppose it'll be too much to ask for architect renderings too.   

At this stage, the plan has both text and graphics. It is somewhat specific in parts but generalized in others since it presents a proposal of physical expansions and expected transitions on the campus not just for the next few years but for the next 20 years.

[VULB#62]

 

[78crusader]

I hope the plan has something in the near term for the area from where Huegli used to be, heading west to the west edge of the parking lot south of the softball field.  Now that Huegli is gone, the empty space around the softball field is really quite large, and mostly taken up by a very unattractive parking lot.  I've always disliked that parking lot -- it is way too big, among other things -- and the sooner we can rid of it, the better.

paul

[valpopal]

I hope the plan has something in the near term for the area from where Huegli used to be, heading west to the west edge of the parking lot south of the softball field.  Now that Huegli is gone, the empty space around the softball field is really quite large, and mostly taken up by a very unattractive parking lot.  I've always disliked that parking lot -- it is way too big, among other things -- and the sooner we can rid of it, the better.

paul

Years ago, the initial plan was to put the new A&S building in that big parking lot, but that changed and it got placed next to the library instead. The plan now seems to be to put a nursing building in or near the space where Huegli Hall stood.

[vusupporter]

I hope the plan has something in the near term for the area from where Huegli used to be, heading west to the west edge of the parking lot south of the softball field.  Now that Huegli is gone, the empty space around the softball field is really quite large, and mostly taken up by a very unattractive parking lot.  I've always disliked that parking lot -- it is way too big, among other things -- and the sooner we can rid of it, the better.

paul

While a parking garage in that general area would probably be a better option than a flat parking lot, I have to disagree that it's too big - it is usually near capacity during work weekdays, and if there's events going on on campus, especially in the Union, it's filled completely up.

[covufan]

Put up a bunch of row house type housing for the future 6k students, that way they can watch the football games from the rooftops!

[vuweathernerd]

I hope the plan has something in the near term for the area from where Huegli used to be, heading west to the west edge of the parking lot south of the softball field.  Now that Huegli is gone, the empty space around the softball field is really quite large, and mostly taken up by a very unattractive parking lot.  I've always disliked that parking lot -- it is way too big, among other things -- and the sooner we can rid of it, the better.

paul

While a parking garage in that general area would probably be a better option than a flat parking lot, I have to disagree that it's too big - it is usually near capacity during work weekdays, and if there's events going on on campus, especially in the Union, it's filled completely up.

seconded. if anything, that lot wasn't big enough - especially after the new union opened and the university started hosting events during classes. commuter students and off-campus seniors took a beating trying to find parking with that one.

[valpopal]

If you are in the area, here is an invitation from President Heckler:

For the last two years, Valparaiso University has been involved in a master planning process that will guide the physical development of our campus over the next 20 years.   Many of you may have attended one of the sessions in which we shared several of the master plan options under consideration.  We are pleased to now arrive at the point where we are ready to share the final Campus Master Plan. I would like to invite you to a special presentation to share the details of this plan. We will offer two sessions on Thursday, Sept. 20, in the Harre Union Ballroom B and C. The first session takes place from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and the second from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. Please choose the session that best fits your schedule.

[VULB#62]

Will one of the sessions be taped or streamed on the VU website?  i recall the streamed coverage of Drew taking over as the head MBB coach.  That was worth watching.  After the sessions, will the diagrams and backup text be posted somewhere?

[historyman]

I'm going to be there and will report back as much info as I can. I'm sure other posters will do the same.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

I remember one great afternoon in the late '90s when the great Mel Doering basically let me not work that afternoon when he brought in the then-Masterplan and we went through it.  Good times with a great man.

Be interesting to see where the new one takes us.