Trustees approve final plans for new Food Science Building, Creamery

Trustees approve final plans for new Food Science Building, Creamery

University Park, Pa. -- In a move to help the food processing and manufacturing industry in the state and throughout the nation to better meet its needs for well-educated food science students and state-of-the-art facilities for research and workforce training, Penn State's Board of Trustees today (July 9) approved final plans for the new Food Science Building, which will include the new Berkey Creamery, on the University Park campus.

In other action, the trustees approved the appointment of an architect for the planned Academic Commons at Penn State Wilkes-Barre and the purchase of a small property adjoining Penn State Mont Alto.

The 130,000-square-foot Food Science Building, located in the East Sub-campus on the corner of Curtin Road and Bigler Road, will replace the outdated Borland Laboratory currently used by the Department of Food Science and the Creamery. It will offer modern space to faculty and students through teaching and research laboratories, classrooms and offices, plus expanded production and service space for the ever-popular Creamery. Furthermore, pilot plants in the building will serve as testing grounds for scaling-up research concepts that food companies which have partnered with Penn State may choose to develop at an industrial scale.

The new Berkey Creamery's support facilities, administrative offices and sales room will be housed on the building's first floor. The Creamery's staff and student workers already produce about 225,000 gallons of ice cream, frozen sherbet and yogurt and hand-dip about 750,000 ice cream cones a year. The new sales room and café will be approximately twice the size of the existing ones, including space for indoor seating. Covered outdoor seating will also be provided, along with many seating opportunities at tables, benches and seatwalls in a Creamery Plaza.

The architect for the $45 million project, which is supported financially by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the University and private donations, is IKM Incorporated of Pittsburgh.

For an artist's rendering of the building, visit http://live.psu.edu/still_life/2004_07_09_bot/index.html

For the Wilkes-Barre campus, the firm of Bohlin-Cywinski-Jackson of Wilkes-Barre was named architect for the proposed Academic Commons project, which includes the renovation of the Nesbitt Library into a student services facility and an addition to the existing structure to house a new library and classrooms.

At the Mont Alto campus, the purchase of a 3.113-acre property from Knouse Fruitlands, Inc. for $125,000 will provide opportunities for future campus enhancement. The Quincy Township property adjoins the campus near its historic chapel and includes a two-story home, garage and outbuildings on Orchard Road which will be demolished.