Buffalo State to host Karner Hall ribbon-cutting Friday

Buffalo State will celebrate the completion of the Karner Hall rehabilitation project with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24. The campus community is welcome to attend.

The $18.8 million rehabilitation project, designed by Flynn Battaglia Architects and constructed by contractors Telco Construction (Phase 1) and Huber Construction (Phase 2), started in fall 2021 and was completed this year.

Located on the west side of campus, Karner Hall is the new home to the University Police Department (UPD) as well as Custodial Services, Grounds shop, and shared general office, support space and storage.

Formerly known as Building 50, Karner Hall was built around 1956 as a manufacturing facility and used by Jewett Refrigerator Co. Inc. as a space to build refrigeration units. It was acquired by Buffalo State in 2003 and had largely been utilized by the campus as a storage facility with 92,050 gross square feet. A Building Conditions Assessment Survey found the building to be the most deteriorated of all buildings on campus. The university completed a project in 2016 to replace the roof and rehabilitate the exterior, including complete remediation of mold in the unoccupied office portion of the building.

The four main goals of the larger rehabilitation project included:

• Provide appropriately designed space to accommodate the needs of new departments/functions that will occupy the building: UPD, Custodial Services, Grounds shop, and shared general office, support space and storage.
• Renovate warehouse and dock space to improve its utilization, functionality, flexibility and safety.
• Provide exterior spaces to support grounds functions, including a secure fenced area for storage of groundskeeping vehicles, equipment, supplies and a new gasoline fueling station.
• Perform sitework improvements to serve visitors by creating a better link to the main campus pedestrian spine and designated visitor parking.

The project provided the building with all new finishes, ceilings, flooring, doors, non-structural partitions, MEP/FP systems and telecommunication/data.