YSU Funds are OK'd for center, store

A business opening in the Ohio Works Industrial Park got a state loan.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
COLUMBUS -- Youngstown State University is receiving $1.5 million in state support for its Recreation and Wellness Center and a renovated and expanded bookstore.
Without comment, the State Controlling Board approved releasing the money Monday.
YSU officials have organized a fund-raising campaign to pay for most of the $12.1 million 65,000-square-foot recreation center, having raised nearly $11.5 million.
The state funds will help pay for a $14 million project that includes the center plus an addition and renovation to the campus bookstore and the construction of a campus gateway on the west side of the campus, according to documents filed with the board.
Hively Construction of Canfield broke ground for the two-story recreation center in April. It was designed by Hanahan Strollo and Associates and will adjoin Kilcawley Center on the west side, extending toward Fifth Avenue.
State officials recommend Hively Construction to be the general contractor for the project; Santon Electric of Youngstown as the electrical contractor, York Mahoning Mech Inc. of Youngstown as the HVAC contractor and Komar Plumbing of Youngstown as the protection contractor, the state documents say.
Approved loan
In other business, the board also approved a $1 million state loan to the Gensamer Family Partnership to help build a manufacturing facility at the Ohio Works Industrial Park in Youngstown.
According to the state, the project will be a steel service center specializing in making carton steel sheets, creating 41 jobs and retaining 14.
The state loan, the interest rate of which wasn't immediately available, would be 35 percent of the total project funding.
The project is also to get a state grant of up to $25,000 and a Job Creation Tax Credit of 55 percent for eight years. That's the equivalent of more than $63,000, the state said.
The company is said to be moving about $3 million worth of current manufacturing equipment to Ohio from other sites, the state said.
The project includes a 74,000 square foot building on a 10-acre site in Youngstown, state officials say.
XCONTRIBUTOR: Jeff Ortega, Vindicator correspondent.