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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowOfficials in Anderson are backing plans to direct $11.2 million toward opening a proposed Purdue University technology education center.
Anderson's revitalization district commission voted Thursday to commit the money toward building the center at the site of a former Delco Remy factory.
The factory on Scatterfield Road, which is owned by Hy-Tech Machining Systems, is expected to be obtained through eminent domain and demolished, officials said. Hy-Tech owes about $80,000 for back taxes and unpaid utility bills on the 52-year-old building, known as Plant 18.
A 94,000-square-foot building will be built on the site, with 53 percent of the space dedicated to manufacturing and the rest to classrooms.
City economic development director Greg Winkler said students from Purdue, Anderson University and Ivy Tech Community College, and city public schools would get hands-on experience with the latest manufacturing technology at the center.
Purdue officials have agreed to sign a 15-year lease for the space, the Herald Bulletin reported.
The new facility is expected to begin operations in 2016. Officials haven't yet estimated its construction costs.
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