Students in eight South Green residence halls have learned that their familiar treks to and from class will be altered in the foreseeable future.
Yesterday, university officials closed the walkways directly adjacent to Cady, Foster, Brough, Dougan, True, Armbruster, Atkinson and Smith houses after a Triad Engineering report identified three structurally unsound catwalks.
David Brown, a project manager for Design and Construction in OU’s Facilities department, responded to the concerns with plans for a construction project that could take between 10 and 12 months.
Repairs to the three catwalks could cost up to $1.3 million, according to rough internal estimates. The money for the repairs will come from Residential Housing’s $44 million budget, said Christine Sheets, executive director of Residential Housing.
“At this point, we have the money available to respond to something like this,” Sheets said.
She said details about a project timeline and total costs would be finalized after the university receives official construction bids.
Since 2003, Residential Housing has spent about $2 million on catwalk construction, Sheets said.
With the exception of Dougan and True, entrances on the catwalks will be closed. Students will have to use the ground-floor entrances during construction.
Officials have not received complaints from students regarding the catwalks.
“We’re not trying to be alarmists,” said Kent Smith, vice president for Student Affairs. “We just thought it would be the right thing to do, rather than risk student safety, to immediately get started on these repairs.”
Cady, Foster and Brough likely will be among the first residence halls to be demolished, Sheets said.
Because of this, Residential Housing is considering alternative options to repairing the catwalks, including metal stairwells, which Sheets estimated could cost several hundred-thousand dollars.
Joe Adams, associate vice president for Risk Management and Safety, consulted with the Athens fire marshal and flood manager to ensure safety standards will be maintained during construction, Sheets said.
“This is a perfect example of how we respond when anything breaks,” Smith said. “We intentionally put money in reserve for when something like this happens.”
es172709@ohiou.edu
