A group of residents gathered outside the Tippecanoe County Courthouse Monday morning ahead of a public hearing on the Purdue Research Foundation\u2019s request to rezone about 121 acres north of Kalberer Road, between Yeager Road and County Road 50 West\/Salisbury Street, from residential to industrial for SK hynix\u2019s preferred West Lafayette site.<\/p>\n
The South Korean chipmaker announced in 2024 that it planned to invest close to $4 billion in an advanced packaging fabrication and R&D facility for AI products in Purdue Research Park.<\/p>\n
Among those speaking at the protest was Purdue graduate and longtime resident Helen DeMarco, who described herself as a spokesperson for the group.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re here today to support the hearing that\u2019s gonna be happening in a little bit,\u201d DeMarco said, arguing the proposed facility would place heavy industry too close to residential neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
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Purdue graduate and longtime resident Helen DeMarco holds a sign while speaking with another attendee of Monday\u2019s protest against SK hynix at the Tippecanoe County Courthouse.<\/p>\n
Andrew Coleman | Photo & Video Editor<\/p>\n
DeMarco said residents are worried about potential air and water impacts from industrial processes and about the project\u2019s proximity to homes, a senior living community, and local community facilities.<\/p>\n
DeMarco said her opposition is not to the semiconductor industry itself, but to the chosen location.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that there\u2019s a need for us to have this industry,\u201d she said. \u201cThey need to put it in a place where it can be operated as safely as possible. And this does not feel as safe as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also pushed back on the argument that West Lafayette must accept the project or risk losing it to another state.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not concerned about what other states are doing,\u201d DeMarco said. \u201cI\u2019m concerned about what we\u2019re doing in Indiana.\u201d<\/p>\n
DeMarco said she was especially frustrated by what she sees as Purdue\u2019s role in backing the project. She also said the debate has made her question the university\u2019s commitment to the community surrounding it.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, it just shows, I think, how far Purdue has fallen in terms of commitment to the communities that support them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Charles Bouman, another protestor and a Purdue professor of electrical and computer engineering, said the issue is not whether SK hynix should expand in Indiana, but whether this site makes sense for the company or the community.<\/p>\n
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Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Charles Bouman poses with a sign during Monday\u2019s protest against SK hynix at the Tippecanoe County Courthouse.<\/p>\n
Andrew Coleman | Photo & Video Editor<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to stop the construction of a huge factory in the middle of a college town community,\u201d Bouman said. \u201cThere\u2019s so many places a company like that could locate that would be more effective, and better for them, better for SK hynix.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bouman argued that city leaders had not produced enough evidence to justify claims about the project\u2019s benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s absolutely outrageous that there has been no study at all on the economic impact of this factory, on the environmental impact of this factory, on the site location of this factory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He also said the project could reshape housing patterns around Purdue and further strain an already tight market in West Lafayette. Bouman said younger faculty members are already reluctant to buy homes near the proposed site.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is bad for Purdue University. This is bad for SK hynix, and this is bad for the community,\u201d Bouman said. \u201cSo the question that comes to my mind is, \u2018Who is it good for?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The protest came as Purdue and state leaders continue to pitch semiconductors as central to Indiana\u2019s economic future. Purdue has publicly tied the SK hynix project to its broader semiconductor strategy and to a \u201cTech Corridor\u201d linking West Lafayette and Indianapolis in a recent interview with AMD CEO Lisa Su.<\/p>\n
But for residents at the protest, the message was less about rejecting growth than demanding a different version of it.<\/p>\n
DeMarco and Bouman said Indiana can pursue high-tech investment without placing a large industrial facility next to established neighborhoods \u2014 Bouman said that is why residents need to keep showing up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey need to come out to these sorts of protests,\u201d he said, \u201cso that they can make it clear to our elected officials \u2026 that the community does not want this.\u201d<\/p>\n
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