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.

“A renovation like this is more than just bricks and mortar,” Interim President Bonita R. Durand, Ph.D., said.  “It’s a reflection of how seriously we take the safety, accessibility and vibrancy of our university.”

“It took vision to imagine Karner Hall as a fresh, updated facility that could serve as both a state of the art police station and a generous and efficient space for our campus’ grounds, custodial, and surplus operations,“ said Lisa Krieger, interim vice president for management and operations.

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. The university initially completed a project in 2016 to replace the roof and rehabilitate the exterior.

The four main goals of the more recent, 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.

“This brand new station plays a key part in the department’s ongoing commitment to keeping the public safe and allows us to better serve the Buffalo State community and visitors,” Chief of Police Amy Pedlow said. “UPD's home is now a functionally designed space that will enhance the services offered by University Police daily. It was built to keep up with technological advances that the campus community expects from a professional police agency. It will allow students, faculty, staff and the local community to feel safe and connected to the police.”

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