It is an exciting time here at Ohio State. Just look around and one can see all the construction: the stadium is being renovated, we have a new basketball arena, the College of Business has new buildings, a building comes down and a new one goes up, and many other various smaller projects through out the campus. Millions of dollars and countless hours are spent everyday. What do we the users of these buildings get...sloppy workmanship.
Go around and look at the most recent projects on campus, really look close, what do you see? I see the lack of detail one expects for an institution like Ohio State. Next time you are in the “Schott” take a look from the second-floor balconies that overlook the rotundas. Sure the floor is nice but look up at the walls, one can see the form work in the concrete, the windows are uneven and the sills are dirty, the back of the handrail is dirty from construction and the weld locations have not been painted. Walk around the Huntington Bank area, crooked wall lights and name plagues.
Take a look at the granite walls by Baker Systems and the year old columns by Ives Hall. The gray granite is turning white from the leachant coming from the mortar. Walk around the College of Business and see the ground around the benches settling below the concrete pad. The new light poles in the north dorms have large sink holes around them and the concrete collars at the base are all uneven. It’s not only the actual work but also how the contractor cleans up.
I go around campus and see contractor cars, trucks and back hoes parked under trees, on sidewalks and in lawn areas. The lawn areas by Arps Garage and Scott House look like landfills. It is apparent the contractor tore up the lawn, so why isn’t he fixing them? Isn’t someone at the university supposed to oversee these contractors? Is it the job of the University Architects Office or Physical Facilities? I would assume that if it was Physical Facilities that they would be doing a better job at it since they have to maintain it once it is in place.
These have only been some of the items I have seen as I have moved around campus. I can only imagine the construction that has occurred behind building walls and above ceilings where one cannot see it upon project completion. One would hope that there is a department on campus that has the personnel to climb a ladder, go in a ditch and look in a hole to ensure we are getting our money’s-worth. A group who is unbiased, knowledgeable and not afraid to go toe-to-toe with contractors, engineers or architects while keeping the best interest of the university at heart.
Think about all the time and money that is financed by taxpayers and students’ tuition that must be spent in order to fix up what should have been done in the first place. Time that the maintenance workers must spend on other things, decreasing their productivity. Money that could have helped buy a computer, a park or (God forbid) more parking garages.
This university is an institution where my children’s grandchildren will go to school and I would hope that there will be buildings built today that they may use and say “they knew how to build them back then.” We are saying that about the stadium as they build up around it, but will future generations of students be able to say that about the built out section in 50 years.
J. Smith
Engineering
Physical facilities need a clean-up job
Published: Friday, January 14, 2000
Updated: Sunday, June 21, 2009
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