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‘Ugly, bothersome’ utility poles will mar beauty of $34M business school, YSU leader laments
By Harold Gwin
YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University is spending about $34 million to put up a building between Rayen Avenue and Wood Street, but the modern-design structure will be surrounded on three sides by some old technology — wooden utility poles.
Some think it would give the entire area around the new Williamson College of Business Administration building a cleaner, more modern look if the utility lines on those poles were put underground and the poles removed.
“It’s really something that’s bothersome to us,” said John Hyden, YSU’s executive director of facilities.
The university and the city are making some big investments in that area, “But we’re stuck with those ugly poles,” he said. “This is probably the right time to take care of it.”
Hyden said the university has addressed the issue with Ohio Edison, suggesting that the utility company pick up the tab for putting its utility lines along Rayen Avenue and Wood Street in the business school area underground.
Ohio Edison isn’t interested, at least not in doing the work at its own expense.
The general practice is that, if a customer wants a line relocated or placed underground, the customer pays for the work, said Mark Durbin, Ohio Edison spokesman.
“Everyone talks about aesthetics, but there’s a major expense involved,” Durbin said.
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Comments
Like the electric companies couldn't write it off as some type of educational or civic cause. They get tax breaks why not pass some of it on?
Because the cost would indeed be passed on ... to those of us who can't afford it and believe that it's more important what is learned inside the building than what the outside looks like with utility poles.
Oh the horror! yep another REAL news story! NOT !
OE will move the pole in your yard...and pay you $1.00 ! My ex neighbor did that! How gracious!
The area has regressed exponentially for decades, the population is falling, jobs are leaving, no business is coming in, and YSU has a lot of work to do from an academic reputation standpoint and the director is worried about uitlity poles?
Better take a break from fantasy land and spend some time in realityville before whining about utility poles. HACK.
The City should have a policy on utility poles , certainly for the Downtown . It should be part of the Building Code for new building to have all underground services onsite & immediately outside. Nothing brands an area as out of date than poles ; & Youngstown is trying to attract skilled workers who are used to living n& working in poleless environments . Poles are out of date technology being slowly replaced elsewhere in the USA & internationally.
As an aside , as Youngstown redevelops , the state of its out of date & poorly maintained infrastructure will increasingly become a matter of public concern as they fail under the new loads & expectations . I've seen it happen elsewhere .
The poles gotta go.
Consider it as part of the expense of the contruction project. The appearance of the University matters to students, prospective students, visitors and the community.
Isn't this the same project that allowed YSU to force that one man out of his building he owned for several years? It's nice to add a new building but at what expense to area residents and businesses?