Don't like that yet another downtown building will be taken off the tax rolls with its purchase by Gannon University, but at least it will be put to productive use. The former brutalist telecom building is prefect for library stacks, and makes sense since Gannon has expanded to envelop the former GTE North (now Verizon) property... with their purchase/renovation of the office portion a few years ago.

This continues the trend of Gannon purchasing former commercial/institutional space and expanding their campus in downtown Erie... Carlisle's Dept Store, Boys & Girls Club, 9th & State office bldg, and now all of the former Verizon property.






Gannon purchases former Verizon call center

Gannon University officials late Wednesday announced the university has purchased the former Verizon call center at 131 W. Ninth St. in Erie.

The multiple-story building will be used as an interim library during a large-scale renovation of Gannon's Nash Library that is scheduled to begin in the summer, officials said.

Verizon closed its directory assistance call center in 2014.

Gannon officials said the former call center was an ideal choice for the interim library because it has several thousand square feet of space and is adjacent to Gannon's Robert H. Morosky Academic Center.

Linda Wagner, the university's vice president of finance and administration, said the former Verizon building needs only minor work such as lighting, heating and cooling to house the interim library.

Wagner said a very favorable investment price and the building's features made the purchase more attractive. "It is already equipped for study carrels, is wired for computers and has ample study space,'' Wagner said. "You couldn't have asked for a better space.''

The Nash Library project will create new entrances on West Sixth and West Seventh streets, 29 new study rooms, and will incorporate a green roof, a computer lab and the S.T.E.M. and writing center.

The project is expected to be completed in about two years, officials said.