TRUSTEES REVIEW CAPITAL PROJECTS AND NEW CONSTRUCTION COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University Board of Trustees on Friday (2/6) heard a summary of the university’s 1997 capital improvement projects. The board also approved a master plan to guide development of the Olentangy Plain District and awarded construction contracts and authorized design. Trustees hear report on 1997 capital improvement projects University architect Jill Morelli updated trustees on the construction projects that took place on the campuses of The Ohio State University last year. For the first time in the university’s history, Morelli told trustees, the total value of capital projects in some state of progress -- emerging, in design or under construction -- total more than $1 billion, primarily because of the large scale of several projects currently under way. Two projects in progress and one in design each is in excess of $90 million -- the Max M. Fisher College of Business, the Jerome Schottenstein Center and the Ohio Stadium. A fourth project of more than $90 million, the renovation of the student recreation center at Larkins Hall, is awaiting approval of planning money in this year’s capital budget request. Academic projects at Ohio State outpace athletic projects in terms of dollars by a ratio of more than 2-to-1, Morelli said. She said the high visibility of the athletic projects -- the arena and stadium, along with the Davis Baseball Stadium -- sometimes makes it appear otherwise. Other projects undertaken by the university include housing and student initiatives, a parking garage and the new Alumni House. Morelli said 41 projects totaling $358.6 million began early planning during 1997; 100 projects totaling $371.4 million were in design; and 40 projects totaling $298.3 million were under construction. Construction was completed on 58 projects worth $55.1 million during the year. Of the projects in progress last year, 116 cost less than $1 million. Of the projects completed, 43 cost less than $1 million. An emerging project must be considered by the university for the commitment of funds in the future or must have received partial funding, Morelli said. Although an emerging project must have the potential for funding, and most move toward completion, there is no guarantee of future commitment by the university. About 73 percent of the projects identified as emerging in 1996 advanced into the design stage last year. Projects that did not move forward in 1997 stalled because of higher priorities given to other projects, Morelli said. “The most challenging time in any new project is when it is ‘coming out of the ground,’” Morelli said. “As a project’s foundation is being excavated, we have the greatest likelihood for the discovery of unforeseen conditions, especially on an older campus like our Columbus campus. “Remodeling projects also can offer surprises,” she said. “Unusual structural systems, asbestos or historical elements that should be preserved are all potentially unforeseen discoveries that can impact a project.” Morelli selected five projects for special recognition: -- Phase I of the Max M. Fisher College of Business will be ready for occupancy in early summer of this year, with students using the facility in the fall. Phase II will be ready for occupancy in 1999, Morelli said. Funding for both phases is comprised of state and donor funds. Phase I construction of the faculty and administrative building and graduate programs building is nearing completion, with built- in furnishings in tiered classrooms and other finishing touches under way. Phase II construction of an undergraduate program building, resource center and continuing education center has begun, with concrete poured and steel being set, she said. An executive residence is in planning stages. -- A new Physical Science Research Building, presently located in Smith Laboratory in the north academic core area, will be built. Smith was built in 1926 and is unable to support the ongoing high-tech physics research program and lacks the quality of systems necessary for code compliance throughout the building. The $50 million new building, in the earliest of design phases, will be funded by the state. -- Sisson Hall in the Veterinary Medicine area will be replaced. The original building does not meet physical or programmatic needs of the college and will be demolished; a 1987 addition to the building will remain and be integrated into the new facility. -- The Tuttle Park Place Garage in the north academic core area will add nearly 1,000 parking spaces when it is completed in early 1999. -- At the Lima campus, Ohio State is working together with the Lima Technical College to construct a new Life and Physical Sciences facility that is expected to be occupied by late 1998. “The project will be a great addition to this regional campus to service students and serves as a great example of coordination between the two entities that occupy that campus,” Morelli said. Trustees approve Olentangy Plain District Plan Trustees approved 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. 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. 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 -- “a new gateway to the university, of sorts,” Jill Morelli, university architect, told trustees. 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 Jerome 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. 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. Trustees OK design work and bids and award contracts Trustees authorized the university to begin design work and seek construction bids for several projects in the Medical Center complex and elsewhere. They also awarded construction contracts for a $16 million parking garage. Two projects will take place at Doan Hall in the Medical Center complex. Architects and engineers will be hired to renovate space on 5 East Doan Hall, which will be the future home of the Ambulatory Bone Marrow Transplant Program. The $1.3 million project also will relocate the air handling unit that serves the Ambulatory Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, the Burn Intensive Care Unit and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The second Doan Hall project, at a cost of $300,000, will renovate space on 5 Center Doan Hall to house the Pain Control Program. Funding for both projects will come from University Hospitals. At the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute, Medical Information Management offices will be relocated and the outpatient lobby will be renovated. The James is paying for the $900,000 project. University Hospitals will pay $400,000 to renovate space on the third floor of Rhodes Hall to accommodate the installation of a laboratory robotics system. The James will spend $250,000 to renovate space on the second floor of Starling-Loving Hall for faculty offices for Gynecology Oncology. Trustees re-examined various ventilation system upgrades that previously had been authorized for the Biological Sciences Building and approved them as a single $1.6 million project to upgrade the systems in various scientific laboratories. The bulk of funding for the project, required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, will come from the state. They also reapproved room renovations and new flooring and cabinetry in the Radiology Facility of the Veterinary Hospital. Changes were made after additional equipment funds became available. Funding for the $1.3 million project will come from the state, the Ohio Board of Regents and gifts to the College of Veterinary Medicine. On the Marion campus, trustees authorized the university to renovate Morrill Hall as one project in order to minimize disruptions to occupants of the building. The $1.3 million project will be paid for by the state and Marion Technical College. Trustees also awarded contracts for the $16 million Tuttle Park Place Garage to accommodate approximately 1,000 vehicles, with offices and retail spaces on the Millikin Road level. The project also includes funds for utilities work at the site, demolition of the former Public Safety Building where the new garage will be located, and for the renovation of the attached Northwest Parking Garage. Bonds will be sold to finance the project, and user fees paid to the Office of Transportation and Parking Services will cover the debt service. The garage is expected to be completed by January 1999. Trustees purchase Gahanna property for medical center Trustees purchased 2.8 acres of land in Gahanna and accepted a gift of an adjacent 1.7 acres. The land will be used to build a 39,000 square-foot ambulatory care clinic for the James Cancer Hospital for comprehensive oncology and mid-life women’s programs. The purchase price for the 2.8 acres is $575,230, or $205,000 an acre. The owner, Academy Development Limited Partnership, will make a charitable contribution to Ohio State of approximately $464,800, the difference between the property’s $1.04 million appraised value and its purchase price. Trustees also accepted a gift of the adjoining 1.7 acres, which was donated to the university by The Vista at Rocky Fork Limited Partnership. The property has an appraised value of $360,000. The properties are located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Hamilton and Beecher roads, about a half-mile south of Morse Road. # Contact: Jill Morelli, university architect, 614-292-4458. Written by Dave Bhaerman, University Communications, 614-292-8422.