# Student Union Building (IUPUI Campus)

The Student Union Building served as the first hub for student-related activities on the IUPUI campus. The Union Building was originally equipped with a hotel for medical students on the IU Medical Center, but gradually evolved and, with the merging of Indiana University and Purdue University, became the first campus center for students located at the downtown campus. The building would change purposes multiple times by hosting various departments and administrative offices until the land swap between Wishard and IUPUI in 2008. The land swap led to the property transfer to the new Eskenazi Hospital, which would choose to demolish the building rather than save it. The original site of the building was located north of the Ball Residence Hall and western end of the Ball Convalescent Gardens. The Union Building made up the western campus of the IU Medical Center alongside the Rotary Building.

## History

The Student Union Building, or the Student Union and Food Service Building, was dedicated on September 30, 1953. The Union Building was equipped with a gift and beauty shop, a snack bar, and an indoor swimming pool. The Student Activity Office was established on the first floor of the building to plan various activities, events, and celebrations for the students of IUPUI. The Student Activity Office was designated a branch of the Student Flight Office of IU Bloomington to provide students and families with a travel agency to assist in flight plans. The Union Building also included a cafeteria and the IUPUI Catering Office dedicated to assisting campus event planning on the ground floor.
The top floor of Gatch Hall was used for resident housing until 1953 when the Student Union Building opened next to Ball Residence Hall. The Union building provided 80 single rooms for residents and guests, and a 1958 addition created another 121 rooms for students. Originally, the building only contained housing for married students and hotel rooms for visitors.
From 1971 to 1973, the Snack Shoppe located in the Union Building opened new programs to provide a wider variety of food to students. The Sugar Shack was a carry-out bakery that provided fresh-baked treats to students. The Deli Korner was a kosher deli that provided meats, cheeses, and salads to students. In October 1973, the Chancellor and vice chancellors moved their offices to the first floor of the Union Building. The Snack Shoppe changed its name to the Paper Chaser in 1974. This was the only dedicated food services for students on campus for the early years of IUPUI.
By 1975, the Union Building had an ice cream bar, Campus Information Center, a game room, and a bookstore on the lobby level. The bookstore at the Union Building differed from the Campus Bookstore located at Cavanaugh Hall by exclusively offering medical books and materials. The tunnel level contained laundry facilities and a health club that included weight machines, exercise benches and bikes, saunas, tumbling pads, vibrator belts, a treadmill, and a roller massage machine. The Student Housing Office was located on the 2nd floor to assist all students living on campus. In July 1975, the School of Business moved its administrative offices to the ground floor of the Union Building. The Union Building implemented the Mini-Money Menu Counter to create half portions at half price for students. In 1976, the IUPUI Placement Office moved from the 38th Street extension campus to the Union Building as part of a large-scale consolidation effort. In February 1977, the student residents who lived on the fifth floor of the Union Building were informed that they had until the end of May to vacate the floor to make room for the School of Business. A similar move occurred two years ago when students had to vacate the fourth floor to make room for the School of Business. The Student Assembly announced the opening of a 24-hour study room located on the sixth floor of the Union building on February 6, 1980.
In 1984, the Hudson Institute relocated to the City of Indianapolis with funding from the Lilly Endowment. The Hudson Institute moved to the Union Building after renovations replaced 101 student beds with office and administrative space. In 1986, the think tank moved to the Fletcher Mansion and retained its offices on the second floor. Later that year, a renovation of the Hoosier Room was completed to add a new café, Café Robert, to add an additional dining area for students.
On July 1, 1987, IUPUI opened a new center called the Center for the Study and Research in Philanthropy in the Union Building, this would serve as one of the predecessors for the School of Philanthropic Studies at IUPUI. In 1988, the Union Building closed its hotel rooms after 35 years of service due to the construction of the University Place Hotel and Ronald McDonald House. The Office of International Affairs was established in the Union Building in 1989.
In 2004, the Office of International Affairs moved from the Union Building to the Education/Social Work Building. In 2008, the new IUPUI Campus Center replaced the Student Union Building and led to its demolition which resulted in many students expressing their anger through the Sagamore. Another contributing factor to its demolition, the new city hospital needed space for its facilities and the IUPUI Union Building was designated to be demolished. At the time, the Union building housed IUPUI’s purchasing, human resources, military science, university architects and graduate studies departments. Most of the employees working in the building shifted offices to Lockfield Village, the former Wishard nursing home.