PSU addresses maintenance issues

With the lighter load of classes offered over the summer, Pittsburg State University is seeing a heavier dose of construction.
A large portion of those projects are aimed at meeting the university's deferred maintenance needs.
"We have several projects going on right now," said Paul Stewart, Pitt State facilities planning director. "Many of those are the first portion of our deferred maintenance projects, which we're conducting with the money we received from the state."
Deferred maintenance has been a major issue for schools statewide. The Kansas Legislature, when researching the topic a few years ago, estimated that state universities faced more than $663 million in issues, a number that continued to grow almost daily. Pitt State's portion of that was estimated at about $58 million.
But thanks to about a Kansas House Bill passed in 2007, Pitt State received some tools to combat the problem. Overall, the five-year higher-education infrastructure funding plan will provide $90 million in direct state funds and about $44 million in interest savings to state universities.
Pitt State will receive more than $10 million over that five-year period.
One of the first projects, a tuckpointing and general restoration effort at Russ Hall, made headlines for what the effort turned up — a pair of birds that forced workers to work around the nest. Still, Stewart said the project was progressing well, with a scheduled completion nearing at the end of the month.
"We actually started in on this last fall," Stewart said. "We knew there would be a long lead time required to get in the terracotta pieces, and the weather in the spring did delay us a bit."
Another major project includes masonry restoration at the Axe Library. Stewart said efforts there focused on the stairs up front, and said similar efforts to clean and seal limestone were going on at Heckert Wells as well.
"Those are set to complete in mid August before school starts," Stewart said.
Then there's the largest deferred maintenance project, the restoration of McCray Hall. Stewart said that project included everything from general restoration to window replacement and a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.
"Some of the window replacement is going on into the fall," Stewart said. "We always knew some parts of that project were going into fall. We're just going to have to work around class schedules some there."
Stewart said other projects included switch gear replacement at Heckert Wells and at Weede Gymnasium and Yates Hall.
But while those projects represent a necessary start, Stewart said there would still be plenty of work to go around in the future. With next year's allocation, Stewart said the university planned on a similar package for Porter Hall, which is in need of masonry work, windows and HVAC units, among other projects.
"We'll finish up here and move on to the next round of projects," Stewart said. "We're thankful that the state has given us money to deal with a lot of these problems."