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Penn State Shenango to Undergo $6 Million Renovation
SHARON, Pa. -- Penn State Shenango will begin a $6 million dollar renovation project this summer to provide a new student activity center and an official entrance for the campus. The renovation gives special attention to preserving the historic heritage of the exterior of the two buildings affected, Sharon Hall and Lecture Hall, campus officials say.The 22-month phased project will feature both exterior and interior renovation. The exterior segment of the project began April 1 with landscaping of the campus grounds and continues through the following July. The project's interior construction will begin Aug. 1 and take 18 months to complete. To minimize the disruption to the learning environment, the interior construction is being completed in two phases, so that only one building at a time is closed for construction. "Keeping the historic facade while modernizing the interior facilities will allow Penn State Shenango to be consistent with the university mission," said Thomas Rookey, Penn State Shenango's chief executive officer. "Many local Mercer County residents will identify with the century-old heritage of these halls, because they may have attended middle school here before the university established its campus." The interior renovation of Sharon Hall will include a redesign of admissions, student services, the learning resource center and the student computer facilities, labs and classrooms. Together, these changes will make the service areas more visible and accessible to students, provide greater technical support and enhance the array of computer power for student applications, Rookey said.The renovation for lecture hall will focus on transforming it into the official entrance to the campus. After the redesign, lecture hall will house relocated services that will be the logical entry point for students, applicants, visitors and parents, he noted.The university will invest $5 million in the renovation. In addition, the Penn State Shenango Advisory Board has contributed $1 million toward a new student activity Center to be included in the project. "The Advisory Board is very excited about the renovation and plans to take an integral part in the development and implementation of a plan to raise additional funds to help complement this project." said Phil Marrie, president of the Penn State Shenango Advisory Board. Diane Disney, dean of Penn State's Commonwealth College, said the combination of landscaping and renovation will "give the campus a defining look that will significantly enhance its appeal. This project," she continued, "will truly help transform the image and operational efficiency of Penn State Shenango." After a statewide search, the university has selected the architect firm of Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann Associates of Butler, Pa., for the project renovation. This architect firm previously designed Penn State Shenango's Lartz Memorial Library.Visit Penn State Shenango Campus athttp://www.shenango.psu.edu"