Faculty and staff at Glidden Hall who were expecting the large hole on their sidewalk to be repaired over Winter Intercession will have to watch where they step for at least another quarter.
Dubbed Glidden Canyon
the hole is the result of a partial collapse of the walkway in front of the building's upper entrance. Faculty complain that the sidewalk has been getting worse since it began degrading in April.
Chain partitions have been installed around the collapse to prevent passersby from falling through. Glidden faculty say nothing else has been done to fix the sinkhole, despite promises from maintenance.
Glidden Hall is home to OU's music department. Director of Music Michael Parkinson requested repairs for the sidewalk at the beginning of Fall Quarter.
Frankly its embarrassing to see the main entrance to the building looking so shabby said Director of Choral Studies Peter Jarjisian, adding that the university promised to fill the hole over Winter Intercession. I understand that everyone has problems
but they should be finding a way to address things like this that people see so readily.
Richard Shultz, director of Implementation, said the university hired an engineer in late fall to determine the problem and the hole is on track to be fixed.
The damage was caused by the break of a storm sewer drain underneath the sidewalk, he said. Contractors will fix the drain before the sidewalk above it sees any repairs.
Harry Wyatt, associate vice president for Facilities, said the schedule of repairs for both the pipe and the sidewalk has been pushed back to Spring Break.
The repairs will cost between $50,000 to $60,000, and the funding will come from state maintenance appropriations, Wyatt said.
This would mark the second time in four years that the pipe below Glidden has needed repairs.
The problem occurred back in 2004
but apparently the repairs were not extensive enough to take care of the problem
Wyatt said. At that time, officials determined that the wear and tear of the aging pipe was the main factor in the break.
The university is replacing a larger section of the pipe this time, but is not replacing the entire storm sewer line because of the cost.
Wyatt said that even though he thinks it is unlikely that the pipe would break again, it is not impossible.
The hole will remain during the season when campus tours with prospective students begin to pick up and the School of Music hosts a series of band competitions, including a competition last weekend where over 200 visiting students used Glidden Hall.
Officials insist that the sidewalk is still safe to use until repairs are made.
The problem is much more unsightly than it is dangerous
Wyatt said.
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Tristan Navera
