Taft center nearly finished
Taft center nearly finished
The agency is working on a third high-tech project.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN — The $5.75 million Taft Technology Center project will be 99 percent finished by its March 15 scheduled completion date.
All that is needed for the building’s interior is carpeting. That is being delayed because Turning Technologies, the center’s primary tenant, wanted to pick out the carpet, said David Kosec, development project manager for the Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corp.
But that carpet could be here next week and installed by March 15.
Also needed is the center’s exterior sign, which should be installed shortly. Exterior landscaping and paving will likely be done in May, Kosec said.
When finished, the center, named for ex-Gov. Bob Taft, will provide 30,000 square feet of space for high-technology companies.
Turning Technologies is located in the adjacent Youngstown Business Incubator on West Federal Street, just east of the Taft center. It could occupy the center as early as the end of March.
With the center project coming to an end, the CIC, a downtown property agency, also is focusing on a third high-tech project on West Federal Street.
The project would include turning the vacant Semple Building, just west of the Taft center, into a high-tech facility and demolishing two other buildings: the Armed Services Building and the State Theatre. The plan is to maintain the theater’s historic front fa√ßade.
The CIC received a $2.75 million federal grant for the project.
The agency first plans to remove asbestos and other potentially hazardous materials from the three buildings and turn the latter two locations into parking lots.
At the next CIC board meeting, March 25, Kosec said he’ll seek approval from the members to advertise for bids for the work.
Renovation work on the Semple Building would be a separate project with design work done in the spring. The search for a company to do the renovation part would begin in the summer.
skolnick@vindy.com