NU gets helping hand for campus projects

Local News

Related Photos

Businessman B. Thomas Golisano, left and Rev. Joseph Levesque, president of Niagara University, unveil a rendering for the B. Thomas Golisano Center For Integrated Sciences building in 2010.

February 9, 2012

By Mark Scheer Niagara Gazette The Niagara Gazette Thu Feb 09, 2012, 10:26 AM EST

NIAGARA FALLS — A new county entity formed to help organizations secure bond financing agreed on Wednesday to assist Niagara University in the development of its new science center, a proposed refurbishment at Meade Hall and other campus improvements totaling $48 million.

The board of directors for the Niagara Area Development Corp. agreed to refinance $24.5 million in existing debt and provide $23.5 million in new bond financing for the university.

The decision clears the way for NU to move forward with several projects at its Lewiston campus, including the $28 million construction of a new 51,000-square-foot B. Thomas Golisano Center for Integrated Sciences. The well-known Rochester businessman who owns Paychex and is the former owner of the Buffalo Sabres committed $10 million toward construction of the facility in 2010. NU’s Vice President for Administration Michael Jaszka said so far a total of $15 million has been raised for the project through private donors and the remainder will be financed through the issue of tax-exempt bonds by the NADC. The science complex will be constructed at the current site of the university’s main parking lot and will house all of the campuses science programs.

In addition to the science center, Jaszka said the bond issue will help the university finance renovations at Meade Hall, a 26,700-square-foot building that has been vacant for two years. The site formerly served as a residence for the Vincentian priests and will be converted from residential to administrative office space. Jaszka said the 80-year-old building is in need of an upgrade and a good deal of the project will focus on widening hallways and entrances and other improvements that will bring it into compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

“We have to bring it up to code,” Jaszka said. “It is an 80-year-old building. It needs a lot of work.”

The assistance from the NADC will also help the university expand two new parking lots to replace those lost by the construction of the new science building. Jaszka said the project will add about 500 new parking spaces.

As part of the overall project, Jaszka said the university will be refinancing debt issued back in 2001, saying the fixed portion of it was redeemable in 2011. Jaszka said the debt had restrictions on it that made it difficult for the university to pursue the proposed expansion and it made more sense to call the debt and reissue bonds to new investors.

The university projects the creation of at least 17 new full-time jobs as a result of the overall project. Related construction work is expected to result in the creation of about 90 more jobs. Jaszka said the university is committed to hiring local labor for the project, noting that Scrufari Construction is the general contractor for the science center.

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Local News

Legislation protecting Falls air base units moves forward
The effort to protect jobs at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station got a boost from a committee in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Korean student robbed at gunpoint in Falls
Detectives are investigating the robbery of a 25-year-old woman Wednesday night in front of a motel in the 400 block of Main Street.

May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Davis will not seek Murphy removal
Lawyers for accused killer Matthew “Bones” Davis say their client will not ask to have Niagara County Court Judge Matthew J. Murphy III removed from his case.

May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Labor group laments economic development efforts
Economic development in New York state has become a joke to some in the area. And many of them are demanding changes to a process which spends approximately $3 billion a year.

May 24, 2012
Repaving work on Old Military Road rises to $790K
Sometimes a change is good. Sometimes a change is bad. For the Town of Lewiston, a change can be pretty costly.

May 24, 2012
Fifth-grader presents list of 400 names asking for new playground
A 10-year-old boy carrying a petition containing more than 400 signatures asked members of the Niagara Falls School Board on Thursday to consider building a new playground at his school.

May 24, 2012
Bomb threat leads to arrest at NT school
A North Tonawanda teen was arrested Thursday morning for sending a one-sentence bomb threat to the computer of a fellow high school student, resulting in a brief lockdown of the school.

May 24, 2012 1 Photo
Sense of resignation on AES pact
May 24, 2012
Marching to the new veterans memorial
It's the unofficial beginning of summer.

Memorial Day may mean cookouts with hot dogs and hamburgers, a trip on the river in a boat or simply a day off from work Monday.

May 24, 2012 2 Photos
Fugitive in meth case caught
Moments after Falls police narcotics detectives and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents uncovered a clandestine meth lab in the city's Echota neightborhood, their prime suspect sent a cryptic text message to Detective Joe Palmero.

May 24, 2012 2 Photos
More Local News Headlines

Do you think cigarette sales to non-Native American customers should be taxed on reservations?