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Purdue picks site for Thermal Energy Storage Tank

Purdue is moving forward with plans for a Thermal Energy Storage Tank.

The Physical Facilities Committee agreed to install it on the south side of campus near the Wade Power Plant.

Vice President for Physical Facilities Bob McMains a redesign of previous plans makes the location a better fit than others.

"We just felt like we had to push the water further so that would be more of a cost.  But, as we designed the tank, we could come up with a better, more efficient tank on the south side to cover the cost for the extra piping we'd need to push the water up,” he said.

The project is expected to cost between $18-and-$20-million.

That’s about one-million more than a site proposed on the north side of campus near the softball field.

There was concern about the appearance of the tank on that location as well as it hindering future development there.

"We had four different sites located.  We thought the north side was good from a engineering point of view," said McMains.  "But, as we talked to the Trustees about that, they felt like that is an area that could be a prime location for future development."

McMains hopes to have the project presented to the Board of Trustees by May and wants to have construction completed by 2015.