WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - A church that has held services since 1939 will become the property of Purdue University next month, leaving the campus ministry with a one-year lease to give it time to find a new home.
Joe Hornett, chief operating officer of Purdue Research Foundation, told the Journal & Courier (https://on.jconline.com/1qGCjXS ) that the university’s real estate arm is paying $2.4 million for University Church. The deal is scheduled to close May 1.
The Presbyterian Church’s Synod of Lincoln Trails put the church on the market last year, and university officials began negotiations on the sale before Christmas, Hornett said.
It’s unclear how Purdue will use the structure.
“As far as I know, there are no definitive plans for it right now in terms of a university use,” Hornett said. “But it was simply a matter of looking at where the University Church is located in reference to the parking garage on Grant Street, as well as to the (Purdue) Memorial Union and Grissom Hall and those things along Grant Street. It was a piece of property that the university did not want to see go.”
Hornett said one short-term possibility is to use the facility for “swing space,” moving people in temporarily as other offices on campus are renovated.
“I can only speak to the next 12 months at this point, with the current congregation staying there,” Hornett said. “In fact, there are weddings scheduled there through December of this year. Every one of those dates will be honored.”
University Church was founded in 1919 as part of the Presbyterian Church’s Westminster Foundation campus ministry. University Church broke ground on its first building on the property in 1939. The property is assessed at $1.13 million, according to Tippecanoe County property records.
Pastor Will Miller didn’t comment on the church’s plans or the reasons behind the sale. But he said in a March 9 blog posting that the church’s plans will be revealed soon.
The Purdue Research Foundation is leading the purchase. The foundation owns 247 residential housing units and has a portfolio of commercial and agricultural land.
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Information from: Journal and Courier, https://www.jconline.com
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