KENT, Ohio -- Trustees of Kent State University have approved a $94.75 million investment in science technology and infrastructure.

The trustees approved construction of a $37.55 million integrated sciences building for the college of arts and sciences, and in a separate action, approved $57.2 million for renovations to the existing science building and laboratories on the Kent Campus Science Mall.

The integrated sciences building, approved Dec. 3, will address research and teaching needs in chemistry, biology and physics. The structure, to be built in accordance with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria, will comprise 57,000 gross square feet with an additional 13,500 square feet of unfinished basement space.

The building, to face the student green, will wrap around and connect to Williams Hall. State capital of $5 million, $30.5 million from bond revenues and $2 million from the university contingency reserve will fund the project.

The renovations will address a range of deferred-maintenance needs, from replacing the failing heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system in Smith Hall to installing automatic fire-protection systems to renovations that make restrooms compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Of the $57.2 million allocated to address major deferred maintenance and academic program needs in the three buildings, trustees earlier approved $7.2 million for critical work since completed or underway; $29.5 million has been received from the state of Ohio as part of two capital appropriations; and $20.5 million in bond-revenue funds has been allocated to modernize and repair the three science buildings. The work will begin next year with all projects scheduled for completion in 2017.

The board also authorized the university to move full-speed ahead with the first phase of construction for the building that will house Kent State’s college of architecture and environmental design, which offers the only architecture degree program in northeastern Ohio. The design plans for the 107,000 gross square-foot, “green” building on the Lefton Esplanade are complete and a budget of $47.9 million, including $3.8 million in private donations and pledges from the college of architecture, has been endorsed by the university joint project oversight committee.

Trustees also named the materials library that will serve students and faculty in the new building for Kent State’s college of architecture the Belden Brick Materials Library in honor of the Belden Brick Co. of Canton, the largest family-owned and managed brick company in the United States, and the Belden Brick Co. Charitable Trust, which pledged $40,000 to support the new building.

SOURCE: Kent State University press office.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
CLICK HERE to subscribe to our twice-monthly print edition and to our free daily email headlines.