97-02-07 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.