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Photo By Melissa Miller
Construction crews work hard in the scorching heat to rebuild the pavement outside of the walkway from the main classroom to the University Center building on Euclid Avenue.

University undergoes face-lift

By Michelle McCafferty and Joe Lull

Cleveland State University’s main campus will undergo a series of face-lift over the years as a part of the campus master plan.
While some projects won’t be completed for another few years, others are slated to open soon.
The university’s highly anticipated recreation center is expected to be ready by the end of July. Basketball courts, weight rooms and indoor tracks are just a few of the features the center will have to offer.
Ed Schmittgen, the university architect, says a formal ribbon cutting ceremony is in the works for the fall semester.
“[The ceremony] will hopefully be on the first day of classes in fall semester, but no date is set yet,” said Schmittgen. “It [the recreation center] is really close to being complete.”
The $30-million state-of-the-art building is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified and the first of its kind at CSU. Schmittgen explained that the building is designed to be environmentally conscious and feature day lighting.
Adjacent to the recreation center is the new $ 7.5-million parking garage that made headlines in November when a construction worker died while on duty. Chalmers Taylor, an employee of Martin Enterprises, was killed when a retaining wall collapsed on top of him.
Despite the accident, construction on the parking garage continued as scheduled. The garage is expected to open in September and will provide 400 additional parking spots.
Projects are also under way to improve Main Classroom accessibility. Construction of a new elevator tower and stairwell at the northwest corner of the building has begun. It would provide easy access to the upper floors from ground level at East 22nd and Chester Avenue.
The elevator project is expected to be completed by the end of January.
The new elevator isn’t the only development slated to improve the Main Classroom. Plans are in the works to enclose the Main Classroom plaza and turn it into interior space.
The construction for that project should begin in fall and would last 10 months. The total cost of all main classroom projects is estimated at $13.5 million.
Two of the most notable construction projects under way on campus are the Parker Hannifin Administration Center and the renovation of Fenn Tower.
The administration center will be connected to the recently renovated Howe Mansion, now being referred to as Parker Hannifin Hall.
The administration is scheduled for completion by the beginning of 2007. A 3,000-square foot restaurant in the building is expected to open a few months later.
The combined cost of Parker Hannifin Hall and the Parker Hannifin Administrative Center is estimated at $14 million.
One of the most talked about construction projects on campus, the renovation of Fenn Tower, is scheduled for completion in August.
“The living accommodations in Fenn Tower are certainly unique to our university,” said Brian Johnston, CSU Director of Marketing and Public Affairs. “It will offer students state-of-the-art conveniences, views, comfort and accessibility to everything that is going on both on campus and in downtown Cleveland.”
The renovated residential facility will contain 400 new beds. The ground floor will contain a movie theater, convenience store and a computer lab.
The third floor will boast two large ballrooms, one for a student lounge and the other for events. The student lounge will contain, among other perks, a pool table and big screen TV. The estimated cost of the renovation is $38.4 million, according to American Campus Communities, a contributor to the project.
In addition to all the building developments, two major transportation projects in downtown Cleveland will also alter the landscape of the campus.
The $ -billion Inner belt project, scheduled to begin by 2009, will change traffic patterns into and out of the campus’ footprint.
The Euclid Corridor project will improve both transportation convenience and the aesthetics of Euclid Avenue. The project, coordinated between the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Regional Transit Authority, will realign and resurface Euclid Avenue.
While there are a great deal of construction projects under way on campus and more slated to begin in the coming years, all improvements on campus are done with one major goal in mind.
“This is all about improving the university for the students,” said Schmittgen. “We want to attract new students, retain students, increase the permanent residence of students and maintain commuter students.”
“We want to make the university a responsible contributor to the Greater Cleveland Area.”

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