Trustees: Property, Construction

TRUSTEES AUTHORIZE PROPERTY PURCHASE, CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University Board of Trustees on Friday (2/7)
authorized Campus Partners to purchase property, approved design work and
awarded construction contracts, heard an annual report on capital
improvements, and conducted other business.

Trustees authorize purchase of property

The board authorized Campus Partners for Community Urban Redevelopment Inc.
to purchase a High Street property and site plans for $425,000. The vacant
property, at 1573-1581 N. High St., is the former site of Papa Joe's Bar and
Pizza, Waterbeds 'n Stuff and Off-Campus Bar -- which were destroyed in a
fire last April.

The High Street site is the first property purchased by Campus Partners.
The property will be used as green space pending redevelopment plans.

Ohio State established Campus Partners two years ago to develop a
comprehensive revitalization plan for the neighborhoods around the
university and to work with the city, neighborhoods and the university
itself to implement the improvements.

After a lengthy public planning process, Campus Partners last July
published the "University Neighborhoods Revitalization Concept" plan. Campus
Partners expects to bring the full revitalization plan to trustees in March
for consideration.

The plan already has received support from the University Area Commission,
University Community Business Association, Columbus Development Commission
and Columbus Historic Resources Commission.

Trustees also accepted a gift of residential property in Redwood City,
Calif., valued at $485,000. The house was part of a bequest by the late Nina
Mae Mattus, who died in 1990.  Proceeds from the sale of the property, along
with the remainder of the estate, are expected to total approximately
$700,000. The money will establish a professorship in the Department of
Textiles and Clothing in the College of Human Ecology. Remaining proceeds
will establish scholarships in memory of James and Nina Mattus in the
colleges of Human Ecology and Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Trustees authorize design work; award construction contracts

The Housing, Food Service and Events Center was authorized to proceed with
a conceptual study, site selection and preliminary engineering for an $8
million apartment building in Columbus. The project's 118 units will house
226 professional students.

The board also authorized the university to employ architects and engineers
and request construction bids for an expansion of the Medical Research
Facility on West 12th Avenue.  The project will finish 11,500 square feet on
the sixth floor for research laboratories and labs for the College of
Medicine's Genetics Initiative. Funding for the $1.35 million project will
come from the James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute.

The board also awarded construction contracts for the $93 million
Schottenstein Center, expected to be completed by September 1998.  The new
arena at Lane Avenue and Olentangy River Road will seat 19,500 for
basketball games and other uses. Funding for the project comes primarily
from gifts and University bond proceeds, with $15 million from the state.

Trustees also awarded contracts to replace existing greenhouses at the Ohio
Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster with a $5.1 million
facility with the latest mechanical systems and growth chambers.  The
project of the departments of Horticulture and Crop Science and Entomology
is expected to be completed by March 1998 and is state funded.

Trustees hear annual report on capital projects

The board heard an annual update on the status of capital projects and
master plan from Janet G. Pichette, vice president for business and
administration, and Jill Morelli, assistant vice president and university
architect.

The report included planning activities of the university, including
district plans, feasibility studies and other initiatives that support the
master plan.

The two summarized projects in early planning stages, projects in design,
those under construction and projects completed during the past year. They
also summarized projects under $1 million.

In all, the architect's office was involved in 272 projects during 1996,
with a total cost of nearly $900 million. Construction began on the $92
million Fisher College of Business complex and the $85 million Schottenstein
Center arena. In design stage are a $78.5 million Ohio Stadium renovation, a
$23 million Life Sciences Research Building, an $18 million Food Science and
Technology Building and a $14 million Heart and Lung Institute.

"In ways that have never been possible before, projects that are
constructed on this campus can become much more than space takers but can
truly become place makers at Ohio State," Morelli told trustees.

Trustees transfer funds to speed up Heart and Lung Institute

The board authorized a request to the state of Ohio to transfer $6.2
million in spending authority from the Knowlton School of Architecture to
the Heart and Lung Institute, speeding up its construction.

The request was made because design work is near completion for the Heart
and Lung Institute, but not as far along for the School of Architecture
project. The school also wanted more time to raise additional funds.

Architecture received $8.2 million in the current state capital
appropriation, but could only spend $2 million during the biennium. Because
the university must pay debt service on the funds, even if unspent, there
can be substantial penalty for not making prompt use of the money.

The transfer will allow construction of the institute to begin at the site
of Upham Hall on West 12th Avenue in the University Medical Center. The
university also committed to providing an additional $7.225 million to
complete the institute -- $1.8 million in this biennium and $5.425 million
in the 1999-2000 biennium.

The Architecture funds will be restored during the next biennium, without a
break in planning, design or construction. When completed, the school, made
possible by a $10 million gift from alumnus Austin E. Knowlton, will replace
Ives Hall on the southwest corner of Neil and Woodruff avenues.

#

Contacts:Jill Morelli, assistant vice president and university
architect, (614) 292-4458
William J. Shkurti, vice president for finance, (614) 292-9232

Written by David Bhaerman, University Communications, (614) 292-8422


[Submitted by: Ruth Gerstner  (gerstner.2@osu.edu)
               
Fri, 07 Feb 1997 16:57:29 -0500]
All documents are the responsibility of their originator.