Cost rises for YSU’s business college

Private contributions for the project already have reached $10 million.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — The cost of the new Williamson College of Business Administration at Youngstown State University is going up.

The project, originally estimated at $30 million, now stands at $34.3 million, according to John Hyden, the university’s executive director of facilities.

Hyden revealed the new cost Tuesday while updating the YSU Board of Trustee’s Finance and Facilities Committee on the project’s status.

He said the revised construction cost is based on three specific factors: a decision to design a 105,900-square-foot building, a decision to use upgraded building finish materials and a plan to make the structure more energy efficient and environmental friendly than found in traditional construction.

The bottom line is that the price will increase by $4.3 million, Hyden told the committee.

Funding

The university has committed $15 million in state capital funds toward the project and has already secured an additional $10 million in private financing pledges to help pay for the project.

Trustee Scott Schulick, chairman of the Finance and Facilities Committee, said that leaves the project about $9 million short, based on the new estimate, and he asked where that money will come from.

Dr. David C. Sweet, YSU president, said the plan is to look for an additional $1 million in private contributions and get the rest from the state capital budget, taking the money from annual state capital improvement allocations made to the university.

Schulick said the higher cost didn’t come as a complete surprise to the trustees. They had been advised earlier of a potentially higher figure based on the three issues Hyden outlined.

Quality building

No one had expressed any objections to doing what is necessary to erect a quality building that will serve the campus for many years, he said.

The new business college will be the centerpiece of the university’s 100th anniversary celebration in 2008.

Construction is to begin next year, although the building won’t be ready for occupancy until the start of fall classes in 2009.

The college has some 1,800 undergraduate and graduate students.

The committee approved a resolution calling for the purchase of seven properties in the Phelps Street/Hazel Street/Rayen Avenue area where the new college will be built.

Atty. Gregory Morgione, YSU associate general counsel, said the purchases total $386,000. The city of Youngstown has already bought two additional parcels that will be cleared and sold to YSU to complete the land acquisition for the project.

He estimated those costs at about $425,000, plus some demolition and cleanup expenses.

gwin@vindy.com