Lower construction costs give Wick Pollock project green light

By Harold Gwin

Some YSU trustees thought a different project should have moved up the list.

YOUNGSTOWN — The construction industry is hungry for work in this period of economic hard times, and that’s good news for Youngstown State University.

University officials say it means the university can get more construction projects done for less money, because contractors are paring their bids to the bone in an effort to keep their people working.

Case in point: Bids on the new Williamson College of Business Administration came in so low that the university will have sufficient funds to add another project to its current construction list — the restoration of the Wick Pollock Inn.

The university is borrowing $47 million through the sale of bonds to fund a number of projects over the next several years. The money will be borrowed in phases.

The master plan list is divided into two phases, with the first $21 million in bond funds borrowed this week originally committed almost totally to the Williamson building as the only project in the first phase. The funding plan showed $20 million for construction and $1 million for land acquisition related to Williamson and other projects.

Phase two, with the rest of the bond money coming next year, included the demolition of the M2 parking deck on Lincoln Avenue, the construction of the WATTS Center indoor athletic training facility, the Wick Pollock Inn restoration, renovations to Kilcawley Center and Kilcawley House and planning for a new College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics building.

The Williamson bids, however, came in at just over $16 million, 22 percent below the project estimate, said David C. Sweet, YSU president.

That freed up about $4 million in phase one money, and the administration opted to move the Wick Pollock project, estimated at $3,950,000, up to phase one status. That means the renovation can begin in November of this year instead of March 2010.

Wick Pollock, which has been closed for a decade, is in a state of deterioration, Gene Grilli, vice president for finance and administration, told the university’s board of trustees Friday as he explained why that project was chosen.

Specific projects had to be identified before the bond issue could be sold, he said, noting the urgency of the decision.

It’s an opportunity to preserve an historic gem, Sweet said.

The decision to move the Wick Pollock project up drew criticism from some of the trustees.

Trustee Harry Meshel said the board had made it clear that it feels the WATTS Center was a higher priority than Wick Pollock. It was that project that should have moved up the list, he said.

A quick survey of trustees at Friday’s meeting, however, indicated that most felt the projects should now proceed as outlined by the administration.

Sweet said the WATTS Center, with a $10 million price tag, is still in the process of raising private funds. Only $5 million of the $47 million in construction bond money is earmarked for the center and the rest is to come from private sources, with $2 million of that yet to be raised, he said.

No architect has been named for that project and a final site determination hasn’t been made yet either, Sweet said.

Meshel said the WATTS Center is a better investment at this point because it will save the university money and perhaps earn some money as well.

YSU is spending money to send its athletes to other indoor training facilities and the WATTS Center could be rented out to other institutions needing an indoor site, he said.

He pointed out that no final design plan has been selected for the Wick Pollock renovation either.

Stephen W.T. Foley, a student trustee, said he understands the fund raising issue with the WATTS Center, but the issue is one of priority, what helps students immediately.

The administration came to the trustees too late to do anything about which project should move up the list, which “makes some board members very angry,” Foley said.

Trustee John Pogue said he would be reluctant to move the WATTS Center up the list because of the $2 million funding gap that exists right now. There’s no guarantee that bids on that project would be low enough to erase that gap, he said.

gwin@vindy.com