The ISU Foundation has launched preparations for next year’s move from the Memorial Union to a new building off campus.

Barbara Boose, Foundation communications director, said the Foundation will move into the National Farmers Organization Building, which is adjacent to Gateway Center, Highway 30 and Elwood Drive.

The building, built in 1990, is located in an area often referred to as south campus, she said.

“It’s close to the research park and the Gateway Center, which is used for many Foundation events,” Boose said.

The office needed to move out of the Memorial Union, because the Foundation has “simply outgrown the space,” she said.

Foundation employees have been working out of offices in the Union and in the Campus Book Store building, Boose said, but the new building will eliminate the need to separate employees.

Besides consolidating the entire staff in one facility, the new location offers adequate parking for events, a business-like environment and a visible, easy-to-find location, she said. The move also will allow the Foundation to free up prime space on campus, Boose said.

MaryJo Mertens, executive director of the Memorial Union, said the Union has a lot of people asking for the space. There have been several recommendations for who the new tenant will be, but the final decision has not yet been made, she said.

“We look to see how student-friendly the group or organization is,” Mertens said.

The Memorial Union Board of Directors and the Student Union Board are interested in using the area for more meeting room space or additional student office space, she said.

“However, these wouldn’t bring in a lot of revenue,” Mertens said.

An academic department also could take advantage of the empty suite, she said.

A recommendation will be made to the board of directors after all the proposals are submitted for the final decision.

“I think the board of directors has a real responsibility to find the right match,” Mertens said. “Hopefully, [it will be] one that will bring in more students and allow us to provide additional services students need.”

The decision on the new tenant also will depend on the Alumni Association, which shares space with the Foundation in the Union, she said.

Boose said there is room for the Alumni Association to join the Foundation in the National Farmer’s Organization Building.

Jeff Johnson, director of the Alumni Association, said a facility feasibility task force has been created “to review the functional space needs of the Alumni Association.”

The task force will analyze the Foundation’s offer to share the off-campus space, the Union’s renovation plans and the university’s need to relocate a number of campus units to the Union, he said.

A decision will be presented to the association Oct. 19, he said. Mertens said all submissions should be turned in no later than November.