Penn State University plans to construct a new academic building at its Abington campus to provide more workspaces for career development, art studios and faculty offices.
The three-story building will be the first new academic facility built on the wooded, 45-acre campus since 1973. The project, shown in renderings released Thursday, will hold 17 classrooms, four laboratories and student support spaces. The building is planned on a green space off Cloverly Lane at the southwest end of campus.
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The university said its budget for the project is $68 million. The plan was approved Friday by Penn State's board of trustees and construction will begin in August. The target to complete the project is April 2026.
Planning for the new building has been underway for nearly a decade as part of the campus master plan. The project received township zoning approval and the university met with neighbors three years ago to present the plan.
"Our ability to be competitive and offer our students a world-class Penn State education requires investments in our facilities, our people, and our community," Margo DelliCarpini, Penn State Abington's former chancellor, said in a statement.
DelliCarpini now serves as vice president of Commonwealth Campuses and executive chancellor at Penn State, which has 20 undergraduate campuses. Penn State Abington serves about 3,100 students — down from roughly 4,000 in 2017 — and offers 25 undergraduate majors. Students who start there also can transfer to other campuses that collectively offer more than 275 majors.
The Penn State Abington campus formerly served as the Ogontz School for Girls in the early 20th century. The school operated out of Sutherland Hall, which remains a classroom building with academic advising spaces. Aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, who disappeared during a solo flight around the world in 1937, attended the Ogontz School and "clashed frequently" with headmistress Abby Sutherland before leaving to become a nurse's aide at Spadina Military Hospital in Toronto, according to the Historical Society of Montgomery County.
Sutherland donated the property and all of its facilities to Penn State in 1950. It was called Penn State Ogontz for decades before being renamed to Penn State Abington in 1997. The campus is known for its pond and geese outside the Woodland and Lares buildings.
Penn State has had a growing presence in Abington Township, including its $5 million renovation of the nearby Memorial Field and upgrades to athletic fields at Alverthorpe Park. The university's first student residence hall, a 400-unit building called Lions Gate, opened just outside campus in 2017.
"This new building is the latest step in solidifying our role in the community," Penn State Abington Chancellor Gary Liguori said of the planned academic facility.
