IUP looks ahead to envision the future of Confluence Discovery Park—a 39-acre, post-industrial landscape at the heart of IUP’s campus—as an expansion of the university’s Allegheny Arboretum; a new gateway to IUP’s Main Campus; and most importantly, an academic, community, and ecological asset.
A former industrial brownfield, plans call for Confluence Discovery Park to become a multiuse educational facility, supporting the Allegheny Arboretum’s primary goal of education as an outdoor classroom and laboratory for various programs at IUP and area schools.
Confluence Discovery Park is located at the heart of IUP’s campus, southwest of Indiana’s central business district. The 39-acre site’s name aptly describes the amenity’s location, which is at the confluence of three streams (see Understanding the Current Site) as well as various land uses and cover types. These include academic and mixed-use to the north; industrial and commercial immediately to the east, west, and south; and a mix of public open space, agricultural, and residential farther to the east, west, and south. This rich context offers Confluence Discovery Park potential physical and programmatic linkages to the surrounding university and community.
While the timeline for completion of Confluence Park will remain, the original master plan projected that the project would be underway by 2030. Read more about the project, and explore Confluence Park.