Deferred maintenance tops $100 million

While the university spends millions of dollars to erect new structures, Facilities officials face more than $100 million in delayed maintenance across campus.

According to Michael Kerns, assistant vice president of Facilities, maintenance has a $2.7 million budget this year, a number that has doubled since 2005 despite economic setbacks.

"One of the major factors [leading to the number of deferred projects] is that there wasn't sufficient investment in campus maintenance for the last two or three decades," Kerns said. "So we're playing a lot of catch up."

Every year, Facilities goes through campus and receives input from various departments to prioritize their projects for the year. The projects that take precedence are those where there may be a safety issue. Next in line are projects that involve keeping buildings up to code, such as the 2008 installment of the Xavier elevator.

"When Xavier was built, we didn't put in an elevator because [city] codes didn't require us to," Kerns said. "Though we technically weren't required to install one, we decided to because it's really a best practice. We want students to be able to access all floors of the building."

When Facilities makes its list of necessary improvements, it also considers what major projects are coming up in the future. For example, many of the improvements needed in the library were deferred because of the planned renovation and expansion of the building.

Residence hall repairs, especially in Campion, have been deferred most frequently because of the huge improvements that need to be made.

One of Campion's biggest repairs is bathroom renovation, which Kerns estimates could cost more than $600,000 per bathroom. The building also needs new windows, which Smith estimates could cost over $1.5 million.

"It's easy to not modernize because the building is being used without any major problems," said Ron Smith, vice president for Finance and Business Affairs. "Money needs to be put in other areas in order to operate the institution. Without increasing tuition exponentially, you're unable to meet all of the needs at once, so things slip by."

In addition to their annual budget, Facilities has a smaller capital project fund of about $1.3 million that is allocated each year for projects that do not require major renovation, such as building a digital music studio or putting air conditioning in Bannan.

The university also puts $3.5 to $4.5 million per year into a capital reserve fund for things that come up that need to be taken care of right away. If few emergencies come up and the fund accumulates enough money, then the funds are allocated for campus improvements. Money from the capital reserve fund will be used to fix the shallow pool in the Connolly Center, a repair that will cost about $300,000. The Spectator reported in September that the pool was closed July 12 because leaks had weakened its rebar and concrete support structures.

"I don't think there's an institution in the country that doesn't have a pretty big deferred maintenance number," Smith said.

The total amount of money that needs to be spent on deferred maintenance projects at Seattle U is more than $100 million, a number Smith said is equal to or possibly less than that of other universities in Washington.

Facilities is working to make up for lost time, fixing small problems as they arise and prioritizing bigger renovations.

Next on the list are sidewalk repairs and campus safety improvements such as signs, fencing and better lighting on campus.

"We're making an effort to get there," Smith said. "But it's a steep hill to climb."

Katy may be reached at kmccourt@su-spectator.com.