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Kate Galbreath
Daily Egyptian

A leaky valve damaged 1,200 to 1,400 books in the library on Thursday and Saturday and their repair will cost around $16,000, dean of Library Affairs David Carlson said.

Worse, the incident is only one in a string of financially devastating building malfunctions in the campus buildings.

According to the Southern at 150 Task Force report, deferred maintenance in academic buildings is one of the greatest challenges facing the University right now.

Phil Gatton, director of the Physical Plant, said the problems are only increasing.

"It's like a car - changing the oil and replacing the belts and fans in a timely manner," he said. "Deferred maintenance is not being able to do those things when they are scheduled. What happens is when you have a shortage of maintenance money, you have a backlog of deferred maintenance."

Because many of the campus buildings were built around the same time; the 1950s, '60s and the early '70s, they have all reached their twilight years at the same time.

"If you walk into Ag [the Agriculture building], it's like a time warp," Gatton said.

However, it's not the cosmetic problems plaguing campus buildings, he said, it's the infrastructure. Because many buildings are used for different purposes than they were originally intended, many are being pushed beyond their limits.

In the case of the Neckers, Life Science II buildings and Morris Library, which Gatton called the three greatest problems, an abundance of electrical equipment makes cooling the buildings nearly impossible, and the heat of the summer doesn't help.

Buildings such as the recently renovated Anthony Hall have individual temperature controls for different areas, but in those without specialized controls, temperatures can vary 15 to 20 degrees.

Though he said the library has not always been the greatest concern, it is posing a unique challenge to maintain. He said he is trying to put as little money as possible into the library to avoid waste because of the massive construction that will leave only the Hall of President, stairwells and columns intact.

Carlson said the leak is the second time in recent years the valve has damaged books, but he expects the freeze-drying process to preserve them to be effective.

"We are really looking forward to the new building," Carlson said. Aside from old pipes and leaky plumbing, Superintendant of Maintenance Scott Pike said the fire alarm system and the mechanical systems are liabilities.

"You have one of the oldest fire alarm systems on campus and one of the most flammable buildings on campus," he said.

On the 100 level of Neckers, a team of eight to 10 workers spent Friday renovating a lab and several office spaces. The project will cost an estimated $150,000 by the time it is completed.

Pike said Neckers, in addition to the library, also has problems with the air handling systems and the chilled water coils.

At the same time the University's buildings are facing such serious challenges, state dollars are drying up, and maintenance is usually one of the first areas to be affected. Of the $25 million budget the Physical Plant uses for yearly operations, $21 million comes from the state.

Because the University will not receive any increased funding from the state, the task force report recommended increasing grant applications as a way to increase the maintenance budget instead.

John Koropchak, vice chancellor for research, plays an active role in locating possible grants for different areas of the University to apply for. He said he has seen the number of federal and foundation grants for building renovation dwindle.

Two years ago, both Koropchak and Gatton were involved with applying for funding from the National Institute of Health to update Life Science II, but although they received a good score on the review, their request was denied. They resubmitted the proposal, but this time budget crisis kept the institute from funding as many proposals as in earlier years.

"The amount of funds from the NIH dropped by a factor of 10," he said. "Rather than funding dozens of these grants around the country, they were only able to fund a couple." Koropchak estimated the institute dropped from a budget of $300 million to $30 million. The National Science Foundation also once offered grants for renovating facilities, but those too have disappeared.

Often, tightened purse strings force foundations to choose offering grants for research projects over renovating buildings, especially those as aged as the University's.

"A lot of them tend not to want to commit money toward buildings, and if they do, it's newer buildings," he said.

In addition to grant locating, Gatton said the Physical Plant is receiving 35 percent of the cost of a coal silo from the state, called a "2-1 split."

Like an old car, the boilers are the engine of the aging campus, he said.

"What we do is we retrofit," he said. "We add new coal technologies to our boilers and it actually fixes some of our maintenance problems. Imagine getting your engine replaced."

Gatton said though they are doing what they can, the aging buildings and their problems have become a daily factor for the Physical plant staff.

"It's a challenge," he said. "How do we manage effectively our money with the resources we have, with the staff we have?"

Reporter Kate Galbreath can be reached at kate_galbreath@dailyegyptian.com