YSU building design essentially complete

By Harold Gwin

Special to The Vindicator

NEW FACILITY: An architect’s rendering of the new Williamson College of Business Administration proposed for the south side of the Youngstown State University campus shows how the facility will look from Rayen Avenue on the campus side. The structure has an estimated cost of $34.3 million.

The new facility, improving YSU’s link with downtown, will open in fall 2010.

YOUNGSTOWN — The design work is essentially complete, and Youngstown State University is now working on the necessary construction documents for its new Williamson College of Business Administration building.

The $34.3 million structure, at about 106,000 square feet, will double the size of Williamson’s current 55,000-square-foot building at the corner of Phelps Street and Lincoln Avenue, said Dean Betty Jo Licata.

The new facility will be just a half block to the south in the area bounded by Rayen Avenue on the north, Phelps Street on the east, Wood Street on the south and a proposed extension of Hazel Street on the west.

It’s location was selected, in part, to strengthen the university’s ties with the downtown business district.

Site preparation for the demolition of a number of buildings on the construction site is next, Licata said, adding that a ceremonial groundbreaking for the new structure will be in October.

The university will seek construction bids in November, and actual construction will begin in early 2009, she said. The building will be ready for occupancy in fall 2010.

Licata and Greg Strollo of Strollo Architects said a primary goal is to make the new facility a LEED-certified building.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, sets standards for environmentally sustainable and highly energy efficient construction that is designed to reduce the negative environmental impacts of buildings and improve the health and well-being of occupants.

The LEED rating system offers four certification levels — certified, silver, gold and platinum — based on the number of credits earned in five green design categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality.

Strollo said the Williamson College of Business Administration will have at least a silver and perhaps a gold certification.

The university is still raising funds for the project.

YSU plans to tap state capital funds to the tune of some $18 million and raise the rest through private contributions.

Paul McFadden, YSU’s chief development officer, said more than $12 million of the $16 million in private funding already has been raised.

The Williamson College of Business Administration has some 1,800 undergraduate and graduate students.

The new facility will have expanded and more user-friendly educational areas as well as a variety of outreach facilities to improve YSU’s link with the local business community, Licata said.

gwin@vindy.com