YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Representatives from educational institutions will be able to bid next week on items at the former Eastern Gateway Community College campus downtown.
At an Eastern Gateway Governance Authority meeting Wednesday, Executive Director Fred Ransier said personnel from public school districts, career tech centers, training schools and Youngstown State University will be able to place bids on items housed at the buildings. That’s set for Tuesday through May 29.
“Then we will go through the bids,” Ransier said.
The college, with its main campus in Steubenville, closed last year amid accreditation and financial problems stemming from its Free College Benefit Program. Its downtown Youngstown campus, opened in 2009, includes two buildings at Champion and Boardman streets.
Ransier said Choffin Career & Technical Center, part of the Youngstown City School District, plans to buy welding equipment owned by Eastern Gateway that’s housed at the center where the college formerly offered welding classes.
State funding for the college is set to expire June 30.
The fate of the buildings hasn’t been determined. A lawsuit is pending in federal court in Columbus, filed by Student Resource Center, the company with which the college had contracted for its free college program. That program allowed union members from across the country to attend Eastern Gateway classes and earn degrees at no cost to them. Most students took classes online.
The lawsuit alleges breach of contract, and the trial is set for August.