Youngstown State University trustees will have to use bonds to build their new multi-million dollar student center. At Tuesday's night meeting, the board approved using student fees to borrow up to $40 million. All the money will go towards renovating the Kilcawley Center.

“It's a great day for students here at Youngstown State…the board had to speak and I'm grateful that they see the merits in this project and that we’re going to be moving forward,” Bill Johnson, President of Youngstown State University said. 

The price tag of the center has gone up since the university first talked about building it. Bids came in higher than the trustees expected at more than $50 million - a nearly 20% increase. 

The university has fundraised $22 million through capital funds and donations to lower that cost but will cover the rest with the bonds.

President Bill Johnson said this is the perfect time to start building this center because Kilcawley needs about $30 million in maintenance right now. So, instead of making those fixes and then paying for an upgraded student center down the road they can just invest that now. 

President Johnson feels this new center will put them in line with the other four-year universities in the state.

“This is the right time to do it, it's the right reason to do it, now's the time,” President Johnson said. “Every university has a student center. Every university does. We’re not the exception to that rule, we're the last ones to renovate ours.”

The center will be a space for students to go in between classes with lounging and study areas, high tech meeting spaces and better dining services.

“Our students do not think of classrooms when they come to this university, they think of where their home away from home is,” President Johnson said. 

The trustees do not think they will need to use the full $40 million that they borrow. The university plans to continue fundraising to try and offset the cost of the bonds.

Construction will start in May of 2025 and the center is expected to be finished in September of 2027.