Campus Commences with Construction Projects

Photo by Justin Wier/ The Jambar.

By Justin Wier

Photo by Justin Wier/ The Jambar.
Photo by Justin Wier/ The Jambar.

Summer is often a time for change on university campuses, as maintenance crews attempt to get things done while students are away.

Rich White, director of Capital Planning and Construction at Youngstown State University, provided a rundown of the changes taking place at YSU this summer.

The biggest project the university is tackling this summer is the renovation of Melnick Hall. The $4.65 million undertaking will relocate the YSU Foundation to Melnick’s first floor and move WYSU from the basement of Cushwa Hall to Melnick’s second floor.

The biggest aesthetic change to the campus this fall will be the removal of the basketball courts on Elm Street on the north side of Kilcawley Center. According to White, it will be replaced with green space and a smaller basketball court.

The university will continue with elevator safety repairs and replacements. The elevators in DeBartolo Hall, Ward Beecher Hall, Tod Hall and Maag Library have $1.6 million has allocated to their upgrade. The elevators in DeBartolo and Ward Beecher are being replaced this summer, and the elevators in Tod and Maag will be tackled next summer.

“Those are just upgrades and modernizations,” White said. “Similar to what we’ve done over at the Lincoln Building.”

The university is upgrading its electrical substation as well. The $1.5 million project will take at least until the end of the year, possibly running into next year.

“It’s upgrading, maintenance, and expansion of the substation,” White said. “It’ll just make it more reliable. There will be some room for expansion, trying to look to the future.”

The university has allocated $1.2 million to roof repairs for Tod Hall, Moser Hall and Fedor Hall. Restrooms are being renovated in Bliss, Tod, Sweeney and Ward Beecher Halls. That projected is expected to cost around $900,000.

Building exterior repairs are projected to cost $1.1 million. This will consist mostly of masonry repairs.

“You’ll see some bricks kind of breaking loose, some mortar breaking loose, some water infiltration into some buildings those kinds of things. That’s what we’re working on,” White said.

There will also be $400,000 of repairs in the parking decks.

“Every year we have stuff in the parking decks. There’s some preventative maintenance type things and just basic repairs going on,” White said.