State contingent in town Thursday

YOUNGSTOWN —  A contingent of state political officials are to be downtown Thursday to break ground on a technology center to be named in honor of outgoing Gov. Bob Taft.

Those scheduled to attend the 11 a.m. ceremony include Taft, U.S. Sen. George V. Voinovich, outgoing U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, Gov.-elect Ted Strickland, U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan and Steven C. LaTourette, Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams, other city officials as well as state legislators and county commissioners from Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.

The Taft Technology Center on West Federal Street is the first place ever named for the outgoing governor, according to Mark Rickel, his spokesman.

During Taft’s eight years as governor, the state provided $3.5 million of the $5.9 million needed for the project.

The center is to be a stand-alone building of up to 30,000 square feet next to the Youngstown Business Incubator. Taft has visited the incubator several times touting the high-technology companies in the facility.

Five buildings between the incubator and the former Semple Building on the south side of West Federal Street, east of Vindicator Square, were demolished last month at the site of the proposed Taft center. A request for proposals from contractors to build the structure is expected shortly.

The state’s 2007 capital budget includes $2.75 million for another technology project along West Federal Street. The total project cost is about $5.9 million with the work to be done in phases.

The initial phase calls for the asbestos remediation and demolition of the vacant Armed Forces Building and the old State Theater as well as a major renovation of the Wells and Semple buildings on the south side of West Federal Street. That phase is expected to begin next summer.