Submitted renderings Joy Polkabla Byers A rendering shows a possible look outside the entrance into the Zoldan Family Student Center

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University’s Kilcawley Center will undergo a two-and-a-half year reconstruction in the near future that will modernize the university’s 58-year-old hub for retail and student services.

The massive renovation project was approved by YSU board members during a December 2022 meeting where a presentation outlined two years worth of strategic planning by administrators.

According to YSU Associate Vice President of Student Experience Joy Polkabla Byers, the idea was to create an environment for students that gives them a feeling of a home away from home.

“Whether you’re a commuter student or live on campus, the student center is the hub of it all. It’s where you work, eat or relax,” Byers said.

The project, which looks to get underway within the next year, was given an injection of funds when the Zoldan family recently donated $5 million.

It matched the largest gift in YSU’s history and, in turn, the building will be named the Zoldan Family Student Center.

Bruce Zoldan is CEO of Phantom Fireworks.

The pricetag for the project is estimated at $40 million. Kilcawley Center Director John Young said $20 million of that will be collected through fundraisers or donors. The remaining amount either will be borrowed or bonded.

EARLY STAGES

The university, in August 2021, hired WTW Architects, a Pittsburgh-based company, to create a feasibility study of the campus’s needs in a student center.

The company created renderings that give a glimpse of what the transformative redesign could do for the center.

Byers said a definitive design is in the works.

Highlighting the rendered art, the Chestnut Room, an event space on first floor that can fit 600 people, will have improved sight lines, upgraded lighting and feature support space.

The first-floor blueprint envisions larger convenience store space, a spirit shop and flexible space that Young said will give the university the ability to add more retail options in the future. The Cove, a student lounge, will be available for late-night food and activities.

The second-floor blueprint features a community kitchen, three long spaces, a TV lounge, meeting rooms, social stairs and a makerspace.

The option to do the project in phases was discussed, but Byers is weary of the idea, considering the four- or five-year student will be surrounded by a constant state of construction.

Byers said a final design choice will come after a cost anyalsis.

“It’s going come down to at the time when we’re ready to build the cost of material and the amount we have fundraised.”

STUDENT INSIGHT

In October 2021, focus groups composed of students, faculty and community members weighed whether to undergo a complete rebuild or the less costly approach to renovate the building.

Students from a diverse backgrounds were invited to participate in campus visits to the University of Akron, University of Toledo, Kent State University and Bowling Green University.

Byers said the goal was to get their feedback on what needs to be in the student center and what some of the current building’s challenges are.

Student Government Association President Nickiforos Mastorides, said the Student Government Association was asked to submit quotes to the initial proposal during a January 2022 board meeting where they presented students’ feedback on how the changes will affect them.

“With a new student union, you have a new sense of life on campus for students because it’s a new place to eat, have meetings, to gather and it creates a new feeling of fellowship for everyone,” Mastorides said.

Mastorides said with an evolving student body, the buildings also will have to evolve in their functionality and aesthetics.

“I believe it will help enrollment rates go up,” Mastorides said. “If they see how nice a student union is compared to some other universities, it puts us back in the conversation.”

RECRUITMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Sharing in Mastorides’ vision for enrollment opportunities, Byers wants to capitalize by bringing the community to campus.

“Our local high schools already utilize our buildings, whether it be for spelling bees, Press Day or our STEM program. Our campus rec team has really grown their team building programs and summer camps,” Byers said.

She added, “We’re trying to bring the community more to campus. It’s a recruitment opportunity in their mind that they see themselves here. Once they graduate high school, they’re already having some exposure,” Byers said.

The attraction of more local students would be a welcome addition to a campus that has struggled with declining enrollment over the past few semesters.

PLANS FOR DINING SERVICES

One of the biggest hurdles the renovation project will face is how to deal with the dining service options that will be shut down throughout the possible two years of construction.

Byers stressed the importance of being “efficient in the use of space” when outlining a plan for a new dining area.

Previously, the building simply has added on to existing space, which Byers said has caused food services to be scattered across the center.

Young said the concept they envision for the new space will mirror a food court that hosts multiple vendors similar to what you’d see inside the Eastwood Mall in Niles or Southern Park Mall in Boardman.

“Our hope is that eventually when we get to the final design, what we have is more of a common area or a common space,” Young said.

By having everything in one place, Young said he believes it will help staff and students cut the time spent bouncing between multiple locations spread throughout the building to find food.

She added, “We would have a central back-of-the-house kitchen that we can utilize for the different food concepts. So we didn’t need such a large square footage. We’re looking at something that’s about 129,000 square feet, versus our current size.”

With bold initiatives in mind comes the complicated conundrum of how food options like Chick-fil-A, Dunkin, The Hub and Jamba Juice, all of which are locations under Chartwells Dining Service, and Wendy’s will be able to operate during the construction period.

“From what we’ve observed on other campuses, we’d look to adapt a similar model of identifying other spaces on campus that might allow us to move those locations out of the building or adjacent,” Young said.

Observing how Chartwells navigated similar waters on the Cleveland State University campus, Young noted how the dining service at CSU utilized open spaces on campus and operated out of a food trailer.

“We’ve talked about leaning more heavily on the dining hall kitchen or doing a temporary pop-up kitchen around campus,” Young said.

As of now, no tentative date has been set for renovations to begin. Over the next couple of months, Young said they will continue making assessments and raising funds.

“It’s going come down to cost to build, the cost of material and the amount of funding that we have versus what we are going to provide for the students. That is going to depend on the final decision on the size of the space,”Byers said.

Young said Kilcawley is nearing the end of life on HVAC and plumbing, and needs an updating of the electrical system, which signifies to him that the building needs to embark on major changes.

“We’re at that time frame where we either address the existing building infrastructure or renovate the building,” he said.

Looking down the line, Young, who has worked in the center for more than 20 years, said the new design will be one of the newest state-of-the-art facilities in the entire state of Ohio.

“This is something that doesn’t happen every five, 10 years so we know this’ll be something that serves the campus community for another 40 to 50 years,” Young said.