University to buy city transit center

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - The Indiana State University Board of Trustees voted to buy the Terre Haute Transit Center on Cherry Street during its meeting Friday.

The center, which houses a bus terminal and a four-level parking garage, was built by the city of Terre Haute on land owned by the university.

University leaders said the $4.5 million purchase would give them more parking for events at the Hulman Center and for the university’s new business school, both of which are within yards of the transit center.

“With the growth into downtown, parking has really become a priority for the university,” said Diann McKee, ISU Business Affairs Vice President.

Building the garage cost the city $6.5 million and was also funded by $9 million of federal transportation grants, said development director Cliff Lambert.

As a stipulation of those grants, the city’s bus terminal must stay on the building’s first level for another 35 years.

That location, Lambert said, is worth the remaining $2 million cost.

“(It) will be giving to transit a paid-up lease, if you will, on their transit portion for the next 35 years,” Lambert said.

Lambert said, since the garage was built with federal funds, its sale must be approved by federal regulators, a process he said could take three to five months.

University business officials said the funds for buying the garage come from building and grounds funds, not funds that would be used for academic purposes.