College has ‘cosmetic work’ done
Construction workers received a not-so pleasant surprise when they found water-damaged cement underneath the windows in the Jazz Café, during work done over the summer. “When we got into re-doing portions of the roof, we found out water damage had been so great that the water had come back underneath the windows and destroyed the concrete the windows were sitting on,” said MHCC Chief Operating Officer Gary Murph. According to Don Wallace, facilities management director, the rotting came from years of the building settling, creating a slope into the building instead of leading the water to the drains. Several roofs on campus had been repaired two years ago in many classrooms, including the Visual Arts Theater. To correct the building, they raised the curve height and replaced the rotted windows with new, insulated windows as surrounding floors received new carpet. Other areas such as the boardroom and the president’s office also received new walls and pillars because of the rotted concrete that was found. According to MHCC President Robert Silverman, the improvements were more cosmetic than what the bond would cover. “We had a goal of replacing all the windows in the building but the priority of that has never been high enough to overcome the more critical places we needed to put the money,” said Wallace. All three rooms received new carpet, paint, tables and chairs as a result of previous remodeling plans. In celebration of the new set-up, Chartwells has begun brainstorming additions for the menu including several low-calorie choices and vegetarian dishes. Jeremy Wilebski, food services director, wants to add a menu similar to the dollar menus and help the budget conscious student. He wants to utilize the grill that has usually served burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches and French fries to include other items like vegetarian and vegan items. The recipes and ingredients will also be available for students to look at. New bars to come to Vista Dining also include a bento bar and sub-sandwich station. Along with the remodeling, the stadium received all new lights after one light pole fell in January. After inspection, several lights were found to be unstable and “wobbly.” All six were replaced with four new ones, costing the school over $200,000. “Most of the college has not been worked on. In this case, what you do is you find something that you weren’t really aware of,” said Al Sigala, director of media and public relations. “Just like the lights. [When] one of [the lights] fall down, you’re faced with one heck of a big deal and you’re faced with additional expenditures. [It’s] something [that] happened that you didn’t think would happen.” Taking care of facilities that have needed a little TLC for a long time and fixing emergency situations have been eating away at the college’s budget for maintenance. For years, the budget has shrunk little by little as the school grows older and older. The bond in November is being looked at as one way to modernize the school and bring it up to code. “What you see is when we try to deal with repairs or remodels or getting the facility to be more modern and safer, it takes a lot of money but also time when you don’t have the money,” said Sigala. “So you have to piecemeal it, basically. Do it in pieces.” The next project for the school is moving computer services and the radio station to the unoccupied MCTV building. The building has been empty since the cable access television station bought their own building and moved out.
|
