YSU plans Coffelt Hall renovation

By Harold Gwin

The aim is to retain historical aspects of the building while adapting it to modern use.

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University will spend nearly $1 million to restore and renovate Coffelt Hall as part of the university’s centennial master plan.

The YSU Board of Trustees has selected a local company, Ronald C. Faniro Architects Inc., to design the project.

It will be “an adaptive reuse of a vintage structure,” Faniro said, explaining that the $990,000 project will be part restoration and part renovation. There is a lot of history in that building, which was built in 1933, once served as an American Legion hall and is named after the late Dr. John J. Coffelt, a former YSU president; the challenge is to bring a modern use into a historical facility, Faniro said.

YSU isn’t interested in dropped ceilings and fluorescent lighting. The university wants a more historical approach in the building upgrade, he said.

The original plan for Coffelt Hall was to have the restoration completed in time for classes in fall of this year.

However, delays in selecting an architectural firm to design the project took a bit longer than anticipated, and Jan. 1, 2009, is now the targeted completion date.

Faniro was selected from a list of 13 companies that expressed interest in the job.

The Finance and Facilities Committee of the YSU Board of Trustees recently heard presentations from three finalists and voted to award the architectural job to Faniro.

Some trustees pointed out Faniro has expertise in the type of restoration YSU is seeking at Coffelt, and others said they liked the idea of keeping the contract local. The money also stays in the community, pointed out Trustee Harry Meshel. Faniro’s fee for the project has yet to be negotiated.

Faniro noted that all of his employees working on the project are YSU graduates.

The building houses YSU’s Writing Center, which offers free tutoring services to any YSU student seeking assistance with writing projects in any course.

The plan is to move the writing center into the lower level of Maag Library and then move the School of Graduate Studies and Research from Tod Hall to Coffelt.

Faniro said the Coffelt project “is right up my alley.”

He is a partner in Sweet Jenny Land Co., which bought the historic John R. Davis Building on West Federal Street from the city last fall.

Sweet Jenny is putting $300,000 into refurbishing the structure in a project similar to the Coffelt hall job in that the goal is to put modern operations into a historical structure while maintaining the building’s historical look.

Faniro will move his business from leased space on East Boardman Street to the second floor of the Davis building while the third floor is being developed as living space for one of his partners.

The first floor will be leased as retail space, Faniro said, noting that there have been a number of expressions of interest from commercial ventures.

Sweet Jenny unveiled the restoration of the historic front of the building last week.

Faniro had high praise for the city’s effort to assist in the project, noting that Sweet Jenny was able to secure a $92,000 city grant.

Without the city’s assistance, the project wouldn’t be happening, he said, calling the arrangement a good public-private partnership for economic development.

gwin@vindy.com