A rendering shows how Eastern Gateway Community College envisions its Youngstown campus will look in the future. Submitted photo

YOUNGSTOWN — Eastern Gateway Community College is on the cusp of an enormous renovation project that will have the school firmly establishing roots in the downtown.

It also will be part of an effort to recharge downtown’s east end.

The community college plans to purchase and improve the East Boardman Street and East Federal Street buildings it occupies, movement on which is happening already.

Also part of the vision, dubbed EGCC 2.0, are new sidewalks, exterior lighting, outdoor seating and green space at the campus.

“To me, this is transformational, and I know a lot of people throw that term out, but for the downtown region and the downtown community, especially the East Federal side of downtown, it is going to be transformational,” Arthur Daly, vice president of the Steubenville-based college’s campus in Youngstown, said.

Financing for the $13 million to $15 million project will come from bonds.

Eastern Gateway leases Thomas Humphries Hall, the school’s main campus at 101 E. Federal St.; its health and workforce building at 101 E. Boardman St., which is the former Harshman Building; and its student services center next door at 139 E. Boardman St.

The Western Reserve Port Authority owns 101 E. Boardman St. Already, it has remodeled the first floor and work is underway on the second floor.

“The second floor is where we are doing new construction to expand our offerings for more health programs. We created a medical lab here and upstairs will be more classroom space, more office space,” Daly said.

Daly estimates within three months the financing will be secured. Appraisals on each building are being finalized and a law firm brought in to help seal the real estate deals is negotiating prices.

After the purchases, new heating and air conditioning system at Thomas Humphries Hall and security upgrades at each building, some of the money left over from the bond will be used to “really recreate the downtown sidewalks, outside facade, redesigning and remodeling the student services centers to add more classroom space, more user-friendly spaces,” Daly said.

The industrial type improvements and security upgrades should be complete within six months after the real estate deals close.

Also part of Eastern Gateway’s vision is to cordon off East Boardman Street between Champion and Walnut streets to vehicle traffic and use it for green space.

“It comes with a discussion. You have to work with your partners downtown. It just doesn’t happen overnight. This is an artery that gets people to and from downtown, so it has to come with a discussion,” Daly said.

Nikki Posterli, the mayor’s chief of staff and director of community planning and economic development for Youngstown, said city hall knows of the college’s vision, but is not involved with anything now regarding its development.

Thomas Humphries Hall includes a downtown parking deck that Daly said the port authority may partner on to manage. There have been talks between the organizations, however the port authority operating the deck is preliminary, its executive director John Moliterno said.

Managing the deck is a “good, natural fit” for the port authority and the direction talks are heading. Plus, Moliterno said, “Eastern Gateway doesn’t necessarily want to be in the parking deck business, but they do need to own structures to take advantage of dollars from the state of Ohio.”

Because the school leases the buildings, it cannot access capital dollars for upgrades. Owning the buildings opens that door.

“Currently, we are not eligible for any of that money here in Youngstown because we lease everything. Once we own the buildings, that changes the landscape of capital dollars coming to the college,” Daly said. “We can do even more modernization as we go forward in the future. That is sustainability, long-term sustainability of the college itself.”

Eastern Gateway arrived in the Youngstown market about 10 years ago. It bounced around at several locations, including the Jewish Community Center and Mercy Health, Daly said, until it landed at East Federal Street about six years ago.