Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Kent State Board Approves College of Aeronautics and Engineering Building Addition

  • By Matt Jones
  • 06/29/21

During its quarterly meeting last week, the Kent State University Board of Trustees approved an addition to the university’s Aeronautics and Engineering Building. The College of Aeronautics and Engineering opened in spring 2015, and since then, enrollment has grown enough to require additional space for faculty research and student classes and labs.

According to a press release, the building’s three-story addition will measure in at 41,449 gross square feet and feature classrooms, instructional and research laboratories, active teaching classrooms, cyber classrooms, networking labs, and faculty offices.

Kent State College of Aeronautics and Engineering addition

Design and construction documents are scheduled for completion by August. After bidding and contract negotiations, groundbreaking should take place in October 2021 for a 14-month construction process. The new facility would open to faculty and students in time for the spring 2023 semester.

The project’s estimated price tag is $19.6 million. Of this, $14.1 million is slated to come from 2020 bond proceeds, $4 million from local funds, and $1.5 million from philanthropic gifts to the university.

A press release states that enrollment in Kent State University’s College of Aeronautics and Engineering has increased by 52 percent since 2019 and by 7 percent since 2020, despite the coronavirus pandemic. A gap between the available workforce and industry needs sets up a wide variety of opportunities for new graduates.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, OR

    Preserving Legacy, Designing for the Future

    As historic academic buildings age, institutions face a difficult decision: preserve and adapt or demolish and rebuild. How do we honor the legacy of these spaces while adapting them to meet the needs of modern learners?

  • Stanford Completes Construction on Graduate School of Education Facility

    Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., recently announced the end of construction on a new home for its Graduate School of Education, according to a news release. The university partnered with McCarthy Building Companies on the 160,000-square-foot project, which involved two major renovations and one new construction effort.

  • University of Arizona Approves New Residence Hall

    The Arizona Board of Regents recently approved plans for a new residence hall at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz., according to a news release. The new facility is scheduled to open in fall 2028 and have the capacity for more than 1,200 students, enforcing a new university expectation that all first-year students live on campus.

  • Deferred Maintenance Issues Growing at Universities, Gordian Reports

    U.S. colleges and universities are falling increasingly behind on facilities maintenance and repair, according to Gordian’s 13th annual State of Facilities in Higher Education report. The deferred capital renewal burden has reached $156 per gross square foot, an 8% increase over the previous year.