Asked about a petition signed by more than 80 faculty members encouraging the university to reconsider the purchase of the Coventry Lane house, McDavis said, “I don’t have any comment today.”
Now that President Roderick McDavis and his wife, Deborah, have moved out of their home at 29 Park Place, university officials are set to perform an assessment on the property.
Ohio University’s Facilities Department said that assessment will be performed in the coming months, but did not give a specific timeline.
Before the department can work to remove the bats that caused the McDavises to vacate the residence, the university has to inspect the structure of the house.
“We must first address the external walls and roof before removing the bats to assure that they will not be able to get back into the house and thus have the University incur additional expenses in removing them a second time,” Stephen Golding vice president for Finance and Administration, said in a statement.
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Unlike residence halls, which have also experienced bat infestations in the past, officials say the Park Place residence might present obstacles to the bat removal process.
"Residence halls are easier to seal up to prevent infiltration,” said Joseph Lalley, senior associate vice president of Technologies and Administrative Services. “29 park place has particular challenges because of its terracotta roof and inability to seal off the building.”
Facilities would not disclose what the exact structural problems entail; saying completion of the assessment would give them a better understanding of the problems.
“It’s an old building and old buildings have issues,” Lalley said of the residence, which was built in 1899. “Certainly we would take the opportunity to update many of the building systems once we know what the next use will be.”
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Athens County has two species of bats on either the endangered or proposed endangered species list, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services’ website.
Indiana bats were deemed endangered in 1967 after people disrupted their hibernation patterns, causing a large number of them to die.
Northern long-eared bats were put on the proposed endangered list in 2013 after a widespread disease decimated their numbers.
Officials are unsure what species is currently in the Park Place residence, or whether the bats living in the residence are considered endangered.
“It’s not about harming any of the animals, just getting them out of the areas we don’t want them to live in,” said Christine Sheets, assistant vice president for Capital and Facilities Planning.
President McDavis, who now lives with his wife, Deborah, at 31 Coventry Lane, says the move to the new residence has been easier for the first lady.
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Deborah McDavis has been wheelchair-bound since having surgery for a broken foot she received in February as a result of the bats in 29 Park Place. The couple’s new residence has a master bedroom and amenities on the ground floor, facilitating her movement.
“She's able to get around and she has mobility so it's working out for her,” Roderick McDavis said. “She’s getting better, slowly but surely.”
Asked about a petition signed by more than 80 faculty members encouraging the university to reconsider the purchase of the Coventry Lane house, McDavis said, “I don’t have any comment today.”
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