As students return to their normal routines this week, they will encounter one of the University's most defining features - major ongoing maintenance and construction projects in a variety of places around Grounds. These disruptions inevitably lead to much grumbling among those who find their favorite shortcuts blocked, as well as those who resent the fact that the University is spending large sums on facilities at a time of increasing tuition costs and declining state funding.
The status of at least one current project, however, should give pause to those who claim the University ought to delay some of its construction projects so as to avoid inconveniencing students or incurring excessive costs. Renovations to the Newcomb Ballroom are running four months behind schedule in large part as a result of unexpected maintenance issues encountered as construction was getting underway. This situation shows that merely putting off needed construction and maintenance projects does not save time or money. Rather, it creates delays that must be addressed in an ad hoc manner, as well as additional costs that are difficult to minimize on the fly. To avoid these complications in the future, students and state legislators must give the University the support it needs to maintain and expand facilities and infrastructure.
The problems plaguing the Newcomb Ballroom renovations are not entirely surprising given the condition of the building. "Newcomb Hall was built in 1954 as a student center, and it has undergone renovations about every 10 years," said Dade Van Der Werf, University supervisory senior project manager. The most recent major renovations, however, were completed in 1997 and since then the demands placed on the building have grown along with enrollment and the diversification of student activities. Consequently, renovations to Newcomb Ballroom were held up as workers found a variety of issues that had to be remedied. "We discovered water infiltration problems with the windows on the cusp of beginning the floor installation," Van Der Werf said. "Once temporary repairs were completed, controls issues with the existing air handlers arose."
In addition to being time-consuming, these difficulties have proven to be expensive. "If we addressed everything we encountered, we might incur up to 20 percent more costs than we'd anticipated," Van Der Werf said. As it stands, he said about 10 percent of Newcomb Hall's total value may still need to be repaired by the time the current renovations are complete.
The trajectory of the Newcomb Ballroom project does not bode well for major renovations at Cabell Hall and the Rotunda. As College Dean Meredith Woo noted in the spring, "New Cabell Hall was built following World War II as a workhorse classroom building, and its 54 classrooms have been in constant use since the early 1950s with little change or improvement." This suggests there could be a number of longstanding problems with the building that will have to be resolved. Moreover, a team of architects already has discovered that the Rotunda's long-delayed roof repairs, slated to begin in Spring 2012, are not coming in time to prevent structural damage that has resulted from water leakage.
There is even cause for concern regarding other aspects of the Newcomb project. Van Der Werf said construction crews had identified "some waterproofing and structural issues with the theater project," and he said construction in the Newcomb Ballroom also turned up undiscovered areas of asbestos that had to be removed.
These circumstances show what will happen if the University heeds the calls of those who want to slow down maintenance and construction. Although doing so may save the University money in the short term, it will make it necessary to spend more down the road as a result of inadequate facility upkeep and excessive usage from a rapidly expanding student body. Therefore, students should be willing to accept the minor annoyances of blocked walkways and unsightly fences so that projects do not interrupt student life in more aggravating ways in the future. The General Assembly, meanwhile, must resist the temptation to shortchange maintenance and construction at the University since this will add a greater burden to the state budget when projects finally are undertaken.
Read More
PARTING SHOT: On the art of walking and chewing gum
By Nathan Onibudo | 6 hours agoStudent journalism, and maybe even life more generally, is about holding space for multiple conflicting truths.
PARTING SHOT: Confessions of a nepo baby
By Grace Thrush | YesterdayWhile I can’t point to one specific “aha” moment where I finally started to dispel my self-consciousness and claim my pride for the paper, I got there gradually over the course of my term as managing editor.
PARTING SHOT: Asked and answered
By Honor Wood | YesterdayLooking back, the answer has been abundantly clear all along. I did it for the people.
