Campus Facilities Update

March 24, 2026

Dear Campus Community,

Since the launch of our strategic plan, Cleveland State United, we have been evaluating our campus facilities so we can best utilize our spaces to maintain an environment where everyone thrives. At the Board of Trustees meeting on March 19, the Board approved the recommendation to retain real estate consultant Brailsford & Dunlavey to assist us in evaluating and re-imagining key academic, living and athletic spaces.

Already, we have several projects underway. Fenn Tower has been under renovation for several months, and it will reopen before fall semester as housing for incoming first-year students. We have taken great care to preserve the historic nature of the building while also improving the living and gathering spaces for our students.

Directly across from Fenn Tower, we have launched the design phase to create state-of-the-art science labs, classrooms and academic offices. This new academic facility — the Biomedical Discovery Complex — will extend from the Science Building toward Euclid Avenue, welcoming students and scholars to campus who want to learn more about the exceptional research underway here. Between these two facilities — Fenn Tower and the Biomedical Discovery Complex — we are envisioning a welcoming and pedestrian-focused plaza.

Beyond our main campus, in our Theatre and Arts Building in Playhouse Square, we will soon begin work on our new art gallery, The Galleries at East 13th Street, curated by CSU. We are redeveloping a portion of an existing parking garage into a dynamic gallery for art exhibitions, live performances and events. This space will help to expand an increasingly vibrant arts district from Playhouse Square toward Chester Avenue.

As many of you know, we have also been evaluating our athletic facilities over the past year. Last fall, we entered into negotiations with the United Soccer League (USL) Cleveland to potentially develop a new multipurpose stadium on the current Wolstein Center site. While we were not able to reach an acceptable agreement with the USL Cleveland, we know that Wolstein is unlikely to be a viable long-term home for the athletic teams, training facilities and offices that are currently located there. We will continue to explore other options for CSU Athletics.

To that end, this spring we will review proposals to renovate and expand Woodling Gymnasium and the adjacent Physical Education Building. The purpose of these renovations will be to consider transforming Woodling into our premier facility for athletic competition — including women’s volleyball and men’s and women’s basketball — bringing these back into the core of our campus. Woodling has been home to many athletic teams and memorable eras in CSU Athletics history for more than 50 years. We are excited to build on this rich tradition for a new generation of student-athletes and spectators. This process will take some time so, for at least the next year or two, we expect that CSU Athletics offices will remain in the Wolstein Center, and men’s and women’s basketball will continue to compete in Wolstein.

In their entirety, these re-imagined spaces will refine our downtown campus to reflect our priorities as Cleveland’s University. By renovating existing spaces, we are stewarding our resources, preserving what is most essential to our iconic urban campus and designing a campus to best serve students for years to come. We will continue to consult the campus community and offer updates on these projects as they move forward. 

Sincerely,

Laura Bloomberg, PhD
President