September 2008
WEEKLY UPDATES FROM FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
50 Years of Service to the University Community
www.siue.edu/FACILITIES

Service Alerts & Activities

Edwardsville:		A few Building Service Reminders FM always welcomes calls from campus to report any and all building/grounds problems. The sooner FM knows about it, the sooner it can be remedied. One of the best ways to reach FM is through the eService Desk (just click on “eService Desk” directly under the Facilities Management logo on FM’s home page)! With simple instructions, the site helps users to enter building and/or grounds problems quickly and easily. Any earlier links to enter FM work orders have been disabled and the sites will no longer be attended; please, use the eService Desk only. So…send a fax, phone a Building Coordinator, phone FM, send a telegram or a homing pigeon; to paraphrase an old song, “there must be 50 ways to call Facilities!” Help is greatly appreciated. Also…the big blue containers that were once only for aluminum can recycling have been modified to accept cans AND plastic bottles; the recycling vendor will accept both in the same container. So…even though the containers may not be marked to reflect this change, please use them for plastic bottles as well as cans. Recycling is something everyone should take part in, not only for the present, but as an investment in the future, a way to leave children and grandchildren a better world. Too important to miss… Dave McDonald, Director of Emergency Management and Safety, has posted a video on the Emergency Management and Safety home page http://www.siue.edu/emergency management to make students, faculty, and staff aware of what they can do in an active shooter situation to improve their chances of survival. As Dave says, “As the tragic shooting events at Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois University and Kirkwood City Hall have demonstrated, tragedy can strike anywhere.” The video can be found at: http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/index.shtm. Being prepared for emergencies can increase the chance of surviving such a situation. Hopefully, the training will provide some helpful tips. Free radon test kit As e-mails from Susan Morgan and FM Director Bob Washburn attested, the presence of radon gas in homes and businesses is a serious issue in Madison County. According to IEMA (Illinois Emergency Management Agency), a quarter of all homes tested in Edwardsville were above the allowable level of radon. Homes with occupied basements seem to be especially vulnerable. For more information and where to get a free radon test kit, go to: http://www.radon.illinois.gov/ . For information by telephone, phone the Information Line at 1-800-325-1245. Rain, rain, go away The recent heavy rains served to remind FM (and building occupants, of course) of the condition of the roofs on this campus. Fortunately, many of the roofs will be replaced soon; unfortunately, not soon enough. If a department is having ongoing problems with a roof leak, especially after it was believed to be fixed, please contact FM at 3711. Reminder Keyless exterior access to SIUE buildings for students is granted for the current semester only. Any student needing access during break weeks must have their name submitted to Key Control through their department chair or director office. The student must have been enrolled the semester prior to the break period.

Project Updates

Edwardsville

Alton Alterations
Roof replacement on the Administration Building begins soon; Buildings 8271 (Director of Research) and 8272 (Storage) will be re-roofed as well. Installation of a heat recovery system has begun in the Science Building. Management and trimming of some very large trees took place in an effort to minimize risks to persons and property.

Miscellaneous Campus Projects
New epoxy flooring has been installed in Founders and Alumni Hall restrooms; toilet partition replacement has begun and will continue for a few weeks. As the work progresses, individual restrooms, rather than a whole floor or stack of restrooms, will be closed. New layouts provide for two accessible units in each restroom.
Storage Building II is nearly finished with the floor slab and metal building enclosure. Facilities will begin the lighting and heating installation shortly.

Alton Campus
The SDM, Administration/Student Center, Building 8273, has been the scene of a great deal of construction activity recently. The completion of the basement waterproofing allowed for the installation of new asphalt paving around the building. Additionally, several new parking spaces were added and the “back” road to Evergreen Avenue was closed to through traffic for safety reasons. The contractor is awaiting delivery of new windows for the building; it looks like they will ship mid-to-late October.

ESLHEC
All recent upgrades to the windows, entry doors, and masonry walls have been completed. The next project is to install some roof guards around roof top equipment to protect workers. An evaporative cooler and an exhaust fan that are no longer used will be removed; that work has been bid and a contract should be awarded by CDB shortly.

A persistent leak in the cafeteria dining area has been aggravating everyone for years. A number of repairs reduced the size of the leak, but it was not stopped. The architectural firm designing the exterior repairs and window replacement met with a mason contractor to cut out a portion of the second floor brick wall that runs over the dining room. When the brick was removed, it was discovered that the brick had shifted, causing the flashing to move and open. As a result, water would enter the wall and run into the interior. A temporary fix was devised and a permanent one is on the drawing board.

The one outstanding remaining upgrade to the Campus is the replacement of the black steel fence on the campus. The design contract has been signed and design work should begin very shortly. If the design moves at normal pace, the project should be bid in the spring and work started as soon as school is dismissed in May.

ADA Upgrade
On the 8280 elevator addition project, the contractor is placing topsoil and seeding the yard torn up during construction. Some interior light fixtures will be installed on one of the next few Saturdays. All that remains is connecting the power supply to the elevator equipment.
The design work of the ERTC accessible restroom and the replacement chair lift in Dunham Hall south of the theater is ready for review by CDB and SIUE. Hopefully, the review will go quickly and this project can be out for bid in October.

Science Building
SIUE provided comments on the Design Development Documents provided by Hastings & Chivetta (H+C), architects for the project. H+C will respond to those comments along with the comments from CDB. Normally, a team review meeting is held to verify understanding on all the comments; however, with the uncertainty of a Capital Improvements Bill passing the Legislature, the review meeting may be postponed until monies are available for the contract documents and construction of the building. In general, it will take H+C about a year to complete the contract documents and then, another two years to renovate the existing Science Building.

Student Fitness Center
The office addition is nearly complete and the Campus Recreation folks will be moving in soon. The main gymnasium is progressing as the steel frame and roof trusses are being erected. The contractor delivering the roof trusses planned a late afternoon arrival. He then parked nearby and made the final trip to the construction site at 6AM; a far superior scenario to trying to deliver trusses in the early evening. The second load arrived without disruption to the Campus.

Vadalabene Center Gym
The new wood floor has been installed, exciting new graphics have been painted on the floor (Cougar logo, Ohio Valley Conference logo, cougar claw marks, court lines, etc.) and now the bleachers on the first floor are being installed. Most of the frame work has been completed and seat installation should begin shortly. The gym has a very different appearance now with the rooms under a portion of the bleachers and a second level that Kinesiology will use.

Early Childhood Center
The foundation has been dug and concrete poured for the foundation walls. Underground plumbing has been installed and numerous white pipes can be seen sticking up out of the ground. The contractor’s schedule calls for completion of the addition in late January, but his is trying to finish it for a move over Christmas. Once the new classrooms and support facilities are completed in the addition, the existing building will be heavily renovated for classrooms and offices. When complete, many of the current needs will be fulfilled by the expanded space.

Student Success Center
Concrete piers have been completed and the contractor is installing the concrete grade beams and basement concrete walls. Some steel erection has begun. Underground plumbing, electrical conduits and similar utilities have been installed along with some equipment. Though hard to discern from the construction site, progress really is being made.

A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR:

University of California San Diego, University of Iowa, SIUE, and Harvard were the four Universities identified among the 44 companies and teams by Buildings Magazine for excellence in facility management and operation.

Quoting from the September 2009 issue:
"The editors of Buildings have handpicked 44 organizations and departments that are getting things done- slashing energy costs, improving customer service, building with the end-user in mind, investing heavily in employee training and development, etc - in truly remarkable ways. Take note: These companies and teams don't just survive - they thrive."

SIUE was ranked at number 13 among the 44 identified. The editors remarked on the SIUE approach and accomplishments in dealing with aging facilities and the efforts to reduce energy usage on campus.

Facilities Management's Director, Bob Washburn, commented on the recognition. "It is wonderful for the institution to be recognized by outside agencies for our efforts. This reflects years of efforts and support by not only the Facilities Management Department, but also the University administration andespecially our students. The editors were very impressed that our students would approve a fee to help address the issues created by the aging campus."