YSU's Kilcawley Center getting a $43 million facelift

 "Centered on the Future" is the campaign for the face lift that Youngstown State University's Kilcawley Center is about to receive.

It's all a part of a long awaited plan to redevelop the building to make it a bit more modern. 

"They wanna know in the world of AI and quantum computing, they wanna know that they're coming to a modern university, not a university that was built back in the sixties," YSU President Bill Johnson said.

Some of the updates include modern lounges, flexible event spaces, expanded dining options, a revamped Chestnut Room for larger gatherings, indoor and outdoor spaces, improved connectivity to the Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center and a new black box theater for performances.

All this development comes with a hefty price tag of $43 million. The university is working to fundraise as much as they can.

"We're asking the community, we're challenging the community, our alumni our friends of the university to give to this campaign," Scott Schulick, Kilcawley Center Campaign Chair said. "We intend to work deliberately, expeditiously and enthusiastically over the next several months to raise the funds needed to keep the university from having to assume long term debt," he said.

Through donations, they've come up with nearly $21 million, almost half of what's needed and are hoping to gather the rest before phase one of the project is set to begin in May 2025.

"The more we have to borrow the more difficult it is to maintain our financial position," Johnson said. "And we're in great financial shape don't get me wrong, we just wanna borrow as little as we possibly can to get this done," he said.

Students are looking forward to having a brand new center.

"It brings that excitement, it brings that invitation to something new and fresh and that's one thing that this campus is direly in need of and it always is," Terin Frodyma, a YSU student said.

"The building, even though it accommodates a lot of students here, it's showing a bit of aging so that new futuristic perspective, that view that it's bringing is going to infuse a lot of joy within the penguin nation," Jabu Charamba, a YSU student said.

This will be a two year project that should be wrapped up by Fall 2027 if all goes as planned with fundraising and construction.

The next step in the process is getting formal proposals from different contractors and then choosing one.