Penn State Shenango - History

History

In 1963 a group of local citizens formed the Shenango Valley Citizens College Procurement Committee with the purpose of expanding the higher education opportunities in the area. After a series of meetings with the Penn State Board of Trustees, a plan was developed in 1964 for creating a new Penn State campus in Sharon that would allow students to start their college career locally and transfer to the flagship campus in University Park. The State Board of Education approved this proposal, and the first students were admitted to the Penn State Shenango Valley campus in 1965.

Initially, classes were held in Kennedy Catholic High School as funds were raised for the construction of a permanent campus. After briefly considering building a campus from scratch in Hickory Township (now Hermitage), the directors instead chose to base the campus around existing buildings in downtown Sharon. The first buildings to be purchased for the campus were Sharon Hall and Lecture Hall, which were purchased from the Sharon Central School District. As programs and enrollment grew, new buildings were constructed or purchased adjoining Sharon and Lecture Halls during the 1970s and 1980s. In the late 1980s the "Valley" was dropped from the official name of the campus.

At the start of the 2006-2007 academic year, a $9.4 million renovation of campus was completed. The renovation updated Sharon and Lecture Halls linking them with an enclosed glass atrium. The renovations also transformed the former gymnasium space in Sharon Hall into the Great Hall including new food service, fitness, and student activities spaces.

Currently the campus is entering a capital campaign to raise funds for modernizing the Auditorium Building with an eye to adding increased accessibility, new restroom facilities, and updating the space for multiple uses. Construction on the first phase of this project is slated to start in 2008. Future projects for the campus, as outlined in its Master Plan, include the closure of a portion of Shenango Avenue at the center of the campus to create a pedestrian quad, as well as the eventual replacement of three campus buildings (Chadderton Laboratory, McDowell Hall, and the Physical Therapy Building) with new and expanded state-of-the-art facilities.

Although no student housing is available at Penn State Shenango, a new apartment building (The Lofts at Centre City) is slated to open across from Sharon Hall in the spring of 2011, providing a crucial link between the campus and the downtown business district of Sharon.