Building of YSU business college to begin soon

By Harold Gwin

Bids give green light to start $34.3M project

YOUNGSTOWN — The vacant lot at Rayen Avenue and Phelps Street will soon be buzzing with heavy equipment.

Construction on the new Williamson College of Business Administration building at Youngstown State University begins March 24.

The bids for the job are in and appear favorable, said John Hyden, YSU executive director of facilities, adding that a couple of local contractors are among the low bidders.

The university broke ground on the project in late October, and it is projected to open in fall 2010.

The building, at 110,000 square feet, will double the size of the present Williamson Building on Lincoln Avenue. The new site is bounded by Rayen Avenue on the north, Wood Street on the south, Phelps Street on the east and a proposed extension of Hazel Street on the west.

The structure carries a price tag of $34.3 million, but the actual construction will make up just 60 percent of that expense. The low bids came in at just under $21 million.

The construction will be done under state-administered contracts, Hyden said, noting that the bids are undergoing a final review now and the YSU Board of Trustees won’t be required to approve the contracts.

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

The financing plan calls for the university to borrow money through the sale of bonds to provide $20 million for the project, with the rest of the cost coming from private donations. YSU has already raised $14 million in private funds, with the largest donation — $5 million — coming from the family of the late Warren P. Williamson Jr., founder of WKBN Broadcasting Corp., for whom the college is named.

The bond issue is set to go to market March 16, with the proceeds becoming available by the end of the month, ensuring that sufficient funds are available to pay for the project.

The new facility will provide cutting-edge classroom and laboratory facilities for the business college’s nearly 2,000 students. It will also build a stronger link between the university and the downtown business district, university officials have said. The local business community will be able to use its facilities as well.

It’s being built as an environmentally friendly structure, designed in line with standards of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.

David C. Sweet, YSU president, credited the project to a joint effort involving many groups, including the private sector, the city, Mahoning County, the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, the state, local business and labor and the YSU campus community.

gwin@vindy.com