Kent State trustees agreed Wednesday to trade buildings with a fraternity — a move that eventually will lead to a new home for the KSU Division of Institutional Advancement.
Gene Finn, vice president of Institutional Advancement, said the exchange is the first step in creating a new home for staffers in alumni relations, development and the KSU Foundation.
“I would like to see it happen as soon as possible,” Finn said. “A domino effect is taking place now.”
The new home for Institutional Advancement is part of $800 million in improvements now underway at Kent State’s campuses and in the city of Kent.
The university has bought up blocks of property west of campus to extend its footprint to the edge of the downtown business district.
It also is improving buildings on campus and constructing new ones for the College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability and Technology and renovations and additions for the School of Art.
The newest project would be a $10 million to $15 million home for the 100 or so staffers in Institutional Advancement. The building could have about 30,000 square feet and would bring all staffers reporting to Finn under one roof for the first time.
Trustees agreed to trade the current Foundation and Development Building at 1061 Fraternity Circle to the KSU chapter of Delta Upsilon in exchange for the frat chapter house at 202 S. Lincoln St.
The Fraternity Circle site is valued at $550,000 and the frat house at $440,000, so the fraternity also will give KSU $110,000 to even the exchange.
KSU will knock down the frat house to make way for its $40 million College of Architecture and Environmental Design on the edge of the newly completed pedestrian walkway between downtown and campus.
Meanwhile, KSU staffers will stay at the Fraternity Circle building while the university finds a new home for them. The fraternity has located quarters elsewhere in the interim, the university said.
One promising possibility for the new Institutional Advancement building is the site of the former DuBois Book Store on Willow Street. It was purchased in January by the Portage County Port Authority and has been leased to Kent State.
Gregg Floyd, senior vice president for finance and administration, said details of the new building could be presented to trustees in December. That would pave the way for the start of construction for both the architecture and institutional advancement buildings.
Institutional Advancement is made up of the KSU Foundation, now at Fraternity Circle; Institutional Advancement, now at Fraternity Circle and the Administrative Services Building; and alumni relations, now at Williamson Alumni Center.
In other business, trustees:
• Approved a retire-and-rehire agreement plus a promotion for Charlene Reed, from secretary to the trustees and chief of staff for President Lester Lefton to vice president and university secretary. She will continue to be paid $180,561.
• Approved a contract extension through June 2017 and an 18 percent hike in base salary to $308,000 for athletic director Joel Nielsen. He was hired in March 2010 and just completed the third year of his original five-year contract.
Carol Biliczky can be contacted at cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3729.