97-12-05 Trustees: Olentangy Plain District Plan,Construction, Budget Items OFFICIALS REPORT ON OLENTANGY PLAIN DISTRICT PLANNING COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University Board of Trustees on Friday (12/5) heard a report about campus planning efforts in the Olentangy Plain District. The board approved construction contracts and authorized design and approved a number of smaller capital improvement projects. The board also heard an annual budget report and conducted other business. Trustees hear report on Olentangy Plain District Plan Trustees took a first look at the university's Olentangy Plain District Plan, the latest in a series of documents that examines planning and development in each of the diverse areas that make up The Ohio State University. After review and input, the board is expected to vote on the document at its Feb. 6 meeting. The area is bounded generally by state Route 315 on the west, Lane Avenue on the south, the Olentangy River and the Wetlands Research Park on the east, and Ackerman Road on the north. A large part of the district is part of the university's green reserve, and the plan preserves the large open spaces, as well as the wetlands research park, as such. It also creates a green reserve corridor by connecting the wetlands park to an arboretum west of Fred Taylor Drive. While the plan reinforces established land uses in the southern two-thirds of the area, it recommends that the northern third of the district be converted to more intensive long-range development of residential, research, office and institutional uses. The plan contains a long-term recommendation to develop Buckeye Village, the married student housing complex, into a higher density residential development and suggests undertaking a feasibility study to validate composition and viability. It suggests an area adjacent to the Schottenstein Center as a potential site for a parking structure and recommends structured parking for development sites near Ackerman Road. The plan also identifies as development sites locations near the Woody Hayes Athletic Complex, the Schottenstein Center and the Fawcett Center. Trustees approve contracts for construction work Trustees awarded construction contracts for an addition to Parks Hall, renovated nursing stations in the James Cancer Hospital and seating in the Schottenstein Center. They heard a report on contracts for 34 projects, each of less than $1 million, that already had been approved, authorized design work for three projects and approved five small capital improvement projects for 1998. At Parks Hall, a 6,000-square-foot addition will house a pharmaceutical care center, multimedia classroom, communications lab, student meeting rooms, clinical faculty offices, and a mall to connect the new structure with the existing facility. Labs on the third and fourth floors will be renovated, as will some student areas. The total project cost is $2.1 million, with the bulk of funding provided by the state and the remainder from the College of Pharmacy. The estimated completion date is August 1998. At the James Cancer Hospital, nursing stations will be renovated and corridors on patient floors seven, eight, nine and 10 will be updated. The hospital is funding the $2.8 million project, which is expected to be completed by December 1999. This portion of the project at the Schottenstein Center, the university's new arena for basketball and other events, will provide seating for approximately 19,500. Gifts to the Department of Athletics of $3.4 million will allow for the purchase and installation of seats. The completion date is September 1998. Contracts for 34 projects, each of less than $1 million, also were approved by trustees. The projects and costs are: Remodeling space in the Animal Science Building and Plumb Hall for the Poultry Science Department ($726,000); upgrading animal isolation space at the Veterinary Hospital ($503,000); upgrading facilities at Fry Hall and making disability-compliance improvements at Starling-Loving Hall ($386,000); upgrading elevators at Lincoln Tower and making them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act ($478,000); Replacing window frames in the Main Library ($157,000); replacing the roof at Denney Hall ($165,000); replacing the roof at Campbell Hall ($318,000); replacing windows and doors at Campbell Hall ($304,000); providing accessibility to a lecture hall in Goss Lab ($36,000); renovating rooms at Fontana Lab to house a campuswide electron optics facility ($661,000); replacing a boiler at Founders Hall on the Newark campus ($85,000); Improving masonry at 1314 Kinnear Road ($112,000); resurfacing and repairing Gosard Drive and other roads on the campus of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster ($210,000); replacing windows at Postle Hall ($250,000); Renovating the interiors of the three Jesse Owens Recreation Centers with new heating, lighting, restrooms, floors and paint ($434,000); upgrading utilities at the Mansfield campus ($657,000); improving masonry at the Main Library ($209,000); replacing the roof of a greenhouse at the Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster ($16,000); replacing roofs on four buildings at OARDC in Wooster ($167,000); Replacing roads, sidewalks and lighting at the Marion campus ($322,000); improving heating and air conditioning at the Main Library ($467,000); replacing sidewalks and a pedestrian bridge at the Drake Union ($521,000); replacing lighting campuswide ($501,000); renovating restrooms and improving plumbing at Ramseyer Hall ($221,000); Adding a new playground at the Child Care Center ($250,000); providing lighting at the Davis Baseball Stadium ($410,000); extending a runway at the University Airport ($220,000); renovating rooms in Thorne and Gourley halls at OARDC in Wooster ($823,000); constructing a courtyard for patients and visitors at the University Hospital and James Cancer Hospital ($300,000); Replacing the roof at Ramseyer Hall ($466,000); creating an ambulatory surgery unit at the James Cancer Hospital ($287,000); replacing a smoke stack at Robinson Hall ($182,000); renovating elevators at Baker Hall ($581,000); and upgrading elevators in the Biological Sciences Building ($512,000). Trustees also authorized the university to hire design firms and seek bids for three projects. A gateway entry into the Medical Center at Cannon Drive and Ninth Avenue and a new front entrance to Rhodes Hall will be constructed at an estimated cost of $1.6 million, to be paid by University Hospitals. Blankenship Hall at Woody Hayes Drive and Kenny Road will be renovated to house the Department of Public Safety. The cost is estimated at $1.9 million and will be funded by the University Treasurer's debt service pool. A renovation of the third and fourth floors of Starling- Loving Hall will provide office space for the College of Medicine and Public Health. The estimated $1.9 million cost will be paid by the James Cancer Hospital. Trustees also accepted five small capital improvement projects, each estimated at less than $1 million, anticipated for 1998 and subject to scheduling and availability of funding. They are: Renovating heating and air conditioning and a gas turbine control room in a laboratory at the College of Engineering ($558,000); adding a treadmill at the Galbreath Equine Center ($461,000); replacing equipment at the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Facility of University Hospitals ($304,000); renovating a gift shop at Rhodes Hall ($270,000); and renovating the Ash House facility for Housing, Food Services and Events Centers ($237,000). Miscellaneous business In other business, trustees: -- Heard a routine quarterly budget report by William J. Shkurti, vice president for finance. Shkurti mentioned that the debate in the state Legislature about primary and secondary school funding could have serious impact on future funding for the university. He also said that summer and fall enrollments were slightly above projections, so fee income may be adjusted upward during the second quarter. -- Heard another report by Shkurti that compared budgeted earnings and expenditures with actual dollars. Shkurti said that, for the 1997 fiscal year, revenues were 3 percent higher than budgeted and expenditures were 1 percent less. -- Received an annual report by Shkurti about internal debts owed by individual units to the university as a result of deficits. He told trustees that the units continue to make progress on eliminating old debts, reducing them from $45.3 million in fiscal year 1993 to $7.2 million in fiscal 1996. -- Learned from Shkurti that the direct administrative cost of supporting development activities in fiscal year 1997 was 7.2 cents per dollar, excluding space, and the cost of endowment administration was 0.4 cents per dollar. Supplemental expenditures in support of the Affirm Thy Friendship campaign have been $5.4 million since its inception, well within its budget. -- Authorized the sale of $80 million in variable rate general receipt bonds, most of which will pay for the Schottenstein Center. -- Revised the university's policy for the management of its non-endowment investment portfolio to help provide the highest possible income with the most prudent level of risk. -- Provided a $2.25 million line of credit for MedOhio Health Inc. to support an application with the Ohio Department of Insurance to establish it as a health insuring corporation. -- Transferred $38.5 million between current and non-current accounts, the bulk of which, $28 million, was of hospital funds to the capital reserve. # Contacts: Jill Morelli, university architect, 614-292-4458. William J. Shkurti, vice president for finance, 614-292-9232. Written by Dave Bhaerman, University Communication, 614-292-8422. [Submitted by: Von Vargas (vargas.12@osu.edu) Fri, 5 Dec 1997 15:31:20 -0500 (EST)] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.