Friday, October 24, 2003
Building exteriors and the campus's own Nittany Lion statue are part of the work.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- Appearances are about to change at the Penn State Shenango campus on Shenango Avenue.
A $200,000 grant from the university will help finance the first phase of a series of physical plant improvements to improve a number of building exteriors, and the work already has begun, said Dr. Thomas Rookey, campus executive officer.
Chadderton Lab, McDowell Hall and the technology building will all get remodeled exteriors to bring their design in line with Lartz Memorial Library on Alumni Commons.
Dr. Diane Disney, dean of the Commonwealth College at Penn State University, and members of the university's physical plant staff, recently announced the funding assistance. Penn State Shenango is a member of Commonwealth College.
The university did a Campus Exterior Architectural Plan at Shenango to identify areas that needed improvement and examined the exterior of all campus properties.
"The proposed landscaping will create a true campus environment for our students and will complement the city of Sharon's ongoing revitalization plan as well," Rookey said.
Additional improvements
In addition to the building improvements, the campus has reached an agreement to lease the parking lot on the southern edge of campus from businessman James E. Winner Jr. for just $1 a year, Rookey said.
The campus already has patched potholes in the lot and removed the coin meter posts. Greenery will be added to create an entrance to the campus.
Further, the streetlights on the west side of campus will be replaced with lights that match those on Alumni Commons. The section of Shenango Avenue between the two sides of the campus will be landscaped and will get a colored pedestrian crossing.
Finally, uniform signs will be installed across the campus as part of phase one, Rookey said.
The Penn State Shenango Advisory Board is working with the campus to review fund-raising efforts that could include a new student activities center, he said.
The advisory board has $1 million in hand now and plans to raise at least $1 million more for that project, Rookey said.
The university is expected to provide additional funding for a second phase of campus work that will include improvements to both Sharon Hall and Lecture Hall buildings.
The exact amount of that new funding hasn't been determined, but Rookey said it will be "many times larger" than the first phase allocation and will be available in summer 2004.
Plans for that work are being drawn now, he added.
The local campus also is getting its own version of PSU's Nittany Lion statue.
The Penn State Shenango Alumni Society and current Penn State students, who voted to support the project as a class gift, are helping to finance the construction of a Penn State Shenango Lion Shrine Gardens to be located in a new quad at the center of campus.
The full-size lion statue, a replica of the original Heinz Warneke work, is on campus.