$13.5M in improvements begin this summer at YSU

By Denise Dick

denise_dick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Youngstown State University has more than $6 million in projects and improvements already underway this summer with an additional $7.5 million under development.

The work is being funded with a combination of state, local and grant money.

The largest of the projects underway is $1.6 million in elevator repairs and replacements. The affected cars and equipment are in DeBartolo, Tod and Ward Beecher halls and the Maag Library. Modifications to the freight elevators in Moser and Bliss halls also are part of the project.

John Hyden, executive director of facilities and support services, stressed that the plan doesn’t stem from safety concerns.

“We’re upgrading them for reliability,” he said. “Our elevators are inspected I think twice per year by the state so they’re safe.”

As equipment ages, though, it becomes less reliable.

Though university elevators have malfunctioned in the past, those were inconveniences rather than catastrophes for those affected, Hyden said.

“We’re just trying to upgrade,” he said. “Some of them are 30, 40 years old. It’s more a matter that technology has changed. Technology has gotten a whole lot better.”

Upgrades and expansion of the university’s electrical substation, totaling $1.5 million, is another improvement underway.

Last winter while YSU was closed, the department did a scheduled shutdown for maintenance on the substation. The planned work was done at that time.

“We realized at that time that it was near the end of its useful life,” Hyden said.

The substation upgrades and expansion is a long-term project with additional work planned likely next summer.

“We’re trying to update some stuff that has been put on the back burner over the last 20 years,” the facilities director said. “All mechanical and electrical equipment has a life span.”

The in-development project with the highest price tag is $4.65 million in renovations to Melnick Hall. The project is to be paid for with state capital funds and bond proceeds. The renovation will allow the relocation of WYSU, now in Cushwa Hall, and the Youngstown Foundation, which is on the second floor of the Alumni House.

An additional $700,000 of renovations will be made to the Advanced Manufacturing Lab in Moser Hall, allowing the relocation of faculty offices.