Construction Update - January 2007
Southern Connecticut State University's Associate Vice President for Capital Budgeting & Facilities Operations Robert G. Sheeley provides the following update on campus consturction:
Over the past 12 to 18 months the entire CSU System has had little to no State Bonding for capital projects so there has been little to report in the way of new projects. Unfortunately, the lack of bonding has set us back considerably in our schedule to upgrade mechanical and electrical systems in Lyman Center, Jennings Hall and Earl Hall.
Renovations to the Old Student Center for the relocation of the School of Business also has been delayed for almost 2 years now, although we continue to request funding every month and it remains a top priority for bonding by the System Office.
The news is not all bad since there are projects moving forward and so let me bring you up to date on projects in motion.
BULEY LIBRARY: I first want to take this opportunity to thank Dean Ed Harris, the entire Buley Library Staff, IT staff located in the library, staff of the Learning Resource Center and everyone else located in the library for their patience, understanding and cooperation in getting through what has now been labeled the Buley Library Flood.
Everyone has been great and we are working our way through this disaster. Restoring the academic focus of the Library has been first and foremost in everyone's mind and toward that end we have expedited the renovations to the cafeteria section of the Old Student Center that was scheduled to be used as swing space, installed shelving and have started to re-stack part of the collection returned from the restoration company. More information on the relocation will be forthcoming.
I also want to thank Cort Sierpinski from the Art Department and Mike Breen from our Inventory Control Division for their assistance with the Art Collection damaged in the Buley Library Flood. Cort and Mike flew out to Chicago in early January and spent several days with consultants assessing the damage to the collection. We were fortunate to have their assistance and a special thank you to Cort and Mike since they both had worked tirelessly in producing an inventory of the collection last year that was so important to have at this time.
Over the past several weeks the Department of Public Works and I have been working closely with FM Global (the insurance company for the State of Connecticut) and Daria J. Cirish (Director of Insurance & Risk Management for the State of Connecticut) regarding damages and our subsequent insurance claim. Both the Pike Company and Regional Water Authority have been put on notice by David O'Hearn , Deputy Commissioner of Public Works, that the State of Connecticut is holding both responsible for damages incurred and expects full restitution for same. Cost for clean up by SERVPRO are over $400,000 and the restoration and cleaning of the library collection and art collection will probably exceed $1,500,000. I cannot comment on who ultimately will be found responsible for the damages since our claim will most assuredly end up in court.
A special thank you to Dr. Paul L. Homer from the Library staff that is working with consultants and will be going to Rochester, New York to assist in the assessment of the collection found underwater in Pajeski Auditorium.
Now for the project itself, we appear to be doing OK for meeting the May 27th, 2007 completion date for the addition to the Library. The contractor is close to having the building sealed up, a great deal of the mechanical work has been completed on the inside of the addition, the glass for the windows is on site and the pre-cast concrete for the exterior of the building is arriving by the truckload daily. All of the brick is on site and the daily manpower figures have risen significantly in the last 2 weeks. I am reasonably confident that we will reach the May 27th completion date.
Phase II of the project, the renovation of the existing building and the construction of an atrium connecting the old with the new, will begin as soon as we relocate operations into the new addition.
NEW 1200 CAR STUDENT PARKING GARAGE IN LOT 7
In December of 2006 the Board of Trustees approved President Norton's request to use University Funds Student fee funds to initiate the design for a 1200 vehicle parking garage for commuter students in Lot 7 adjacent to Moore Field House. A Request for Qualifications for design services have been advertised; we hope to complete the design and bid the project in the fall of 2007 and start construction in January 2008. In the meantime, Executive Vice President Blake and I are searching for temporary parking to replace the 300 spaces to be lost during construction of the garage.
RENOVATIONS TO THE LOBBY AT MOORE FIELD HOUSE
The project was substantially completed in the Fall of 2007, however, the University is not pleased with the quality of the work and we have put the contractor on notice that we expect the corrective work to be completed in a specified number of days . If the work is not done we will use the funds being withheld on the contract to hire a contractor to complete the work to our satisfaction.
This summer we will begin Phase I of the renovations to the locker rooms at Moore Field House. We have been working with a design consultant and Athletic Director Pat Nicol and her staff to complete the design and will be bidding the project this spring.
RENOVATIONS TO OLD BARNES & NOBLE BOOKSTORE TRAILERS
A great big job well done to Facilities Operations' trades' staff, especially our carpenters and electricians, for a truly outstanding job in completely renovating the space into 6 classrooms. We have ordered new furniture and will begin the Spring Semester with the classrooms on line with old furniture. Thank you also goes out to IT staff who worked closely with us in equipping these hi-tech classrooms. These classrooms will replace the TE 1-4 classrooms coming off line and scheduled for demolition during the Spring Semester.
CONSTRUCTION OF NEW OFFICE BUILDINGS
Request for Proposals were received from several contractors for the demolition of TE 1-4 and the design and construction of a New Office Building on the site of TE 1-4 . We have selected a contractor subject to CHRO (Commission on Human Rights & Opportunities). We anticipate demolition to occur this winter and construction of the new building to house Recreation & Liesure Studies and Public Health to be completed by the end of August 2007.
Phase II of this project will be the construction of an addition to the first building to house IT staff. Phase II design is underway and we hope to bid that this summer.
ROOF REPLACEMENT AT PELZ GYMNASIUM & JENNINGS HALL
Both projects are substantially complete. Thank you to the staff in both buildings for their patience and cooperation during the completion of these projects.
INSTALLATION OF SPRINKLER SYSTEMS IN CHASE AND HICKERSON HALLS
This project is complete and we are currently out to bid to install the sprinkler system in BROWNELL HALL this summer.
EARL HALL
Renovations to the common areas and music rooms are complete. We have a contract with a consulting firm to redesign the front entrance to Earl Hall. We will be working with faculty and staff this spring to develop the redesign.
RESIDENCE HALL DRIVE RENOVATIONS
A consultant has been hired and is working on a concept for the redesigning the drive that runs from Wintergreen Ave., past the straight-line halls all the way to Farnham Avenue. The roadway will be resurfaced and perhaps reconfigured, trees and plantings installed, new lighting and furniture installed etc. We hope to have this project underway this summer.
WINDOW REPLACEMENT IN LYMAN CENTER & JENNINGS HALL
This project was bid and the State Bond Commission approved bonding to award the bid in December 2006. This project is part of our over-all effort to improve energy efficiency in our buildings. We will be working with faculty and staff to schedule the work when the contract is awarded and the windows ordered.
UPGRADE TO MECHANICAL & ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS EARL AND JENNINGS HALLS AND LYMAN CENTER
It has been over 18 months now that we have been requesting bonding to get these sorely needed energy conservation/deferred maintenance projects moving. It is next to impossible to control heating and cooling in buildings where controls do not work or there are no controls at all. I know there are many on campus that can attest to the lack of controls in these buildings as well as some other buildings given the extreme temperature swings.
Energy Conservation
Let me conclude by letting you all know that energy conservation is a top priority for our division of the University. Executive Vice President Blake, Director of Engineering Services Pat Norton and I have been meeting on a regular basis to discuss additional conservation efforts/projects for funding. Several projects have been identified in a Campus Energy and Sustainability study completed in the summer of 2006, shared with, and endorsed by President Norton and the Cabinet early this fall. We are compiling a list of projects and will be sharing it with the Campus Community shortly.
Robert G. Sheeley
Associate Vice President for Capital Budgeting & Facilities Operations
