More problems plague Parkhurst Hall

Uncarpeted floors, missing wall frames, flooded floors and black tarps in place of doors are only a few of the many disturbing images in Parkhurst Residence Hall lately.

“I feel like I should be wearing a hard hat when I walk around,” said Jeremy Rawn, sophomore resident of Parkhurst.

“The cleanup that’s already taken place was almost $26,000,” said Dr. Paul Jahr, director of university housing and assistant vice president for student affairs. “And that doesn’t include the repairs [to come].”

Although Parkhurst has undergone a lot of damage lately, it is on the right track to being repaired.

“Unfortunately, it seems like Parkhurst has been hit pretty hard this year,” Jen Russell, resident director of Parkhurst hall, said. “But we’re doing the best we can to prevent further things from happening.”

The west wings of each of the four floors are missing carpet and wall frames because of the massive amounts of water emitted from the sprinkler on the fourth floor of Parkhurst on Aug. 27.

“As far as rooms go, there was minimal damage,” Russell said. “We offered rug cleaning to all the people affected by the water coming in from underneath the doors.”

“We’re fortunate that virtually all the damage was confined to public places,” Jahr said. “At this point, we still haven’t determined if it was vandalism or not.”

According to Jahr, the day after the sprinkler accident, the insurance adjuster identified four specific directives: the removal of water-soaked hallway carpet and ceiling tiles, cutting out approximately three feet of hallway sheetrock, placing dehumidifiers in the hallways and installing heavy plastic curtains at the end of each affected hallway.

“Right now, the workers are finishing stage one in which they’re drying out the building,” Russell said. “Gallons upon gallons of water were released from the sprinkler, so the building needs time to air out. We’re at a standstill right now, though.”

The building will be completely dried out by Friday, Oct. 1, and will be checked by an insurance adjuster on the same day.

If Parkhurst passes the inspection, the second phase, the process of putting up drywall, will begin promptly.

“The contractors will try to confine the cutting and installing of the sheetrock to during the day,” Jahr said. “We appreciate the residents’ cooperation.”

“The students will be well-informed,” Russell said. “A letter will go out telling them what days this will happen.”

The third phase consists of painting the new walls, and putting down new carpet will be the fourth and final phase.

“This is not a situation where we can just come in and fix everything,” Jahr said. “The problem is, it takes time.”

Aside from flooding, Parkhurst has experienced eight fire alarms this year so far. While many residents believe these fire alarms to be going off because of leftover water in the ventilation system, Russell said this is not true.

“There is no correlation between the fire alarms going off and the flooding,” Russell assured. “Only one went off due to the water damage. The sprinkler system set off the fire alarm, but the other times have been for different reasons.”

A letter sent out to Parkhurst residents from University Housing stated all fire alarms have gone off for legitimate reasons.

While many students are frustrated with the many changes Parkhurst is experiencing, Russell stressed the fact that the process of repairing the residence hall will be a slow one, and that patience is a virtue.

“We’re working on relaying information to the residents,” Russell said. “We’re trying hard to communicate with them.”

According to Jahr, a petition was started by unhappy students, stating they wanted to be more informed.

“There was a petition, and I don’t disagree with it,” Jahr said. “They wanted to know what was happening, and I totally concur with them.”

Russell encouraged anyone unhappy with current living conditions to go to Parkhurst Hall Council meetings to express their thoughts. She also advises residents to talk to their resident advisors if they have any questions concerning what is going on.

There will also be wing meetings, in which resident advisors will get together with their wings to inform them of what’s happening.

“We’re making progress at this point,” Russell promised. “We’re on the right track now.”

“Everything will be okay. All the damage will be repaired. Unfortunately, it’s just not a rapid process,” Jahr agreed. “This process doesn’t happen overnight, but we anticipate it will take three to four weeks.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 1 2004. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry