YSU buys final city land for business college

By Harold Gwin

The purchase prompted some debate over the Hazel Street extension project.

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University has purchased the final parcel of land it needs for its new Williamson College of Business Administration building.

The university’s board of trustees voted this week to pay $270,000 to the city of Youngstown for just over half of the former Cherol property, stretching from Rayen Avenue to Wood Street just west of Phelps Street.

The city purchased the four parcels of land needed for the project, razed the buildings and readied the site for construction of the $34.3 million business school.

The purchase of the Cherol property is the final acquisition the Williamson project requires, Atty. Greg Morgione, YSU associate general counsel, told the trustees.

The university previously purchased, from the city, the former Downie auto service property at Wood and Phelps for $240,000; the former Earl Calvin apartment complex on Phelps Street for $200,000; and some land formerly owned by the Diocese of Youngstown for $146,000.

Added to that was a $100,000 purchase from WRL and Associates for a vacant parking area on the south side of Wood Street that will be used for the Williamson building, providing 30 to 40 spaces, Morgione said.

The university has already broken ground on the new structure, and President David C. Sweet said construction is slated to begin in early 2009, with a fall 2010 completion date.

The building is the centerpiece of YSU’s Centennial Master Plan and represents the single largest capital expenditure in the university’s 100-year history.

Discussion of the latest purchase promoted some debate in the board’s Finance and Facilities Committee meeting before the vote over the city’s plan to extend Hazel Street from Wood Street to Lincoln Avenue to provide a more direct route from the campus to the downtown business district.

The new road will run along the west side of the new business school.

It’s a project that Trustee Harry Meshel has openly criticized, particularly in light of the fact that the city had to take some property from Grenga Machine and Welding Co. by eminent domain to complete the link, a move Meshel termed “abominable.”

“We don’t need that piece of property,” he said, arguing that it is a misuse of the theory of eminent domain.

Hunter Morrison, director of campus planning and community partnerships, explained that the city determined in a 2006 plan to improve the connectivity between campus and the downtown area while eliminating blight.

After the trustees’ meeting, the university issued a statement regarding the Grenga case, supporting the court decision allowing the city to take the property.

“The extension of Hazel Street is an important part of the city of Youngstown’s community development plan for the Lincoln-Rayen-Wood neighborhood, which lies between downtown Youngstown and the Youngstown State University campus,” the statement said.

The plan is grounded in more than 20 years of discussion about how to better link the campus and downtown, the statement said, noting that the plan was developed in conjunction with YSU and the Diocese of Youngstown.

gwin@vindy.com