U. to build $64m. water chiller by new Murphy Field stadium

With hundreds of millions of dollars worth of new buildings popping up all along campus, University officials announced yesterday the construction of a new $64 million water chilling plant that will increase Penn's water supply by 25 percent. The plant will be built adjacent to the soon-to-be-built varsity baseball stadium on Murphy Field, which is set to open in the spring of 2000. The baseball team's current home, Bower Field, will be renovated and used for club and intramural sports. "We cannot do without [the water] given all of the new buildings that we're constructing," University President Judith Rodin said. Rodin said that the money spent on the project will all be recouped within six years because of savings from using the newer facility. The University currently has water plants that total 40,000 tons and the new plant will have a 20,000-ton capacity. That will be offset, though, by plans to stop using some of the more outdated chilling plants, according to Vice President for Facilities Services Omar Blaik. The older plants are being decommissioned because they are either too costly to maintain or environmentally unfriendly, Blaik said. The University has seen a construction boom in the past few years. Sansom Common and the Roy and Diana Vagelos Laboratories opened last year, while new Dental School and Wharton School buildings are set to open in 2000 and 2002, respectively. In 1995, the University built a $24 million water chilling plant on top of the parking garage at 38th and Walnut streets. Other plants are scattered throughout campus.

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