Wright State receives $13.5M in capital funding from the state

Dunbar Library will use state funding to replace carpet, renovate and increase study spaces and replace furniture.

Renovations in Dunbar Library, repairs to the tunnels and an upgrade to the wireless and wired networks at the Dayton Campus are among the projects Wright State University will pursue thanks to funding the university received from the State of Ohio.

Wright State received more than $13.5 million from the state’s two-year capital budget that was approved in spring 2018. The university will use the funds to address nine deferred-maintenance projects.

“Given the university has a sizeable deferred maintenance inventory, the team targeted the majority of projects toward addressing some of the more sensitive or necessary deferred maintenance items,” said Greg Sample, chief real estate and facilities officer.

Wright State is not using any local funds to pay for the projects, Sample said. “One hundred percent of the funding for these projects is coming from the State of Ohio,” he said.

Dunbar Library received state funding for two projects: $600,000 to replace carpet and $500,000 for a modernization project to renovate and increase study spaces and replace furniture.

“We hope these improvements will help make students more comfortable so that even more students will use the library more often,” said Sue Polanka, interim university librarian.

Through the modernization project, the library will offer more variety in study spaces to meet students’ needs, Polanka said.

Dunbar Library plans to improve existing study areas, create new study rooms and designate a quiet study area on the second floor. The library will offer areas for large and small group work and individual use, including designating study areas that students can reserve to ensure they have a quiet place to work.

The library will also replace chairs, lounge furniture, tables and study carrels.

Changes and upgrades are based on the results of a thorough student survey the library conducted in 2015. In the study, students said they wanted the library to offer a variety of spaces to work in groups and study quietly.

“What the results of the study told us was students were all coming here for many, many different purposes and they needed different types of spaces,” Polanka said.

The carpet will be replaced on the second, third and fourth floors of Dunbar, while rubber floor tread will be installed on two stairwells. The library last installed new carpet in the main portions of the building 21 years ago.

The library hopes to install the new carpet and stairwell flooring over the winter break and to begin working on the modernization plan in the fall semester and install during spring break 2019.

Wright State received $650,000 in state funding to renovate and repair portions of the popular tunnel system.

Wright State received almost $1.3 million in state funding to support an upgrade to the wireless infrastructure of the entire Dayton Campus, including in residence halls Hamilton Hall and Forest Lane, starting this fall. Classrooms in the academic buildings will also receive enhanced coverage to meet the rising demand for wireless on campus.

Prior to the wireless upgrade, CaTS will upgrade network equipment in Rike Hall, the Student Union, Russ Engineering, Allyn Hall, Brehm Lab and University Hall. This upgrade will replace aging equipment in those buildings.

Another significant project supported in the state budget involves renovating and repairing portions of the tunnel system, which is nearly two miles and connects 20 of 22 academic buildings on the Dayton Campus. The university received $650,000 in state funding to install new flooring, clean portions of the tunnel and repair water-damaged areas.

“It is a hallmark of our accessible campus and making sure it remains in good operable condition is a priority,” Sample said.

The university also received $3.75 million to repair and replace roofs on several buildings, and $700,000 to repair windows, glass blocks and louvers in various buildings.

Next year, the university will repave certain campus roads, including Center Road, Loop Road and portions of Raider Road. The university received $700,000 for roadwork.

The largest funded project, at $4 million, will correct over-burdened electric panels and relocate plumbing systems away from electrical and data areas in several campus buildings.

Wright State is finishing a number of capital projects that were funded in previous state budgets.

At Lake Campus, the Facilities Team will expand Andrews Hall to provide a permanent home for the library, a science education lab and nursing skills and simulation lab. Lake Campus received $2.5 million in state funding for the project, which is expected to be completed in August 2019.

This fall, renovations are expected to be completed on the second floor of the Student Union on the Dayton Campus. Wright State will relocate the offices of Wright1 Card, Community Standards and Student Conduct, Student Legal Services and Student Union administration in one area. The project will allow the university to use the space more efficiently and enhance space for people to work in.

Wright State received $3.5 million in the state’s 2016 biennium budget for the Student Union project.

The university received $2 million in the 2016 state biennium budget to upgrade various elevators, including those in Dunbar Library. That work is expected to take place this fall.

Wright State also received $3 million in state funding to repair and make improvements to the Fine Arts Building, scheduled to be completed by the beginning of the fall 2018 semester, and renovate two chemistry labs in Fawcett Hall. Construction of the labs is scheduled to take place in summer 2019.