Elizabeth Vierkant-
Water damage has left several rooms of the Jarvis Hall Science Wing unusable on University of Wisconsin–Stout’s campus. The damages were discovered Monday, Nov. 6.
“We believe that after a Science Fair that invited middle school students into the Jarvis Science Wing addition, a water faucet was left on in a third floor lab.” said Vice Chancellor Philip Lyons.
From a faucet in room 354 on the third floor, water travelled down to the second and first floors. Due to the damages, classrooms 250 and 254 on the second floor are now out of order. Since then, the classes normally held within the damaged areas have been moved. Rooms 140 and 142 on the first floor were also damaged.
“The faucet was connected to a rock polishing machine. Therefore, the running tap was not immediately noticeable because it was connected with a hose,” said Lyons. “This event was on a Friday, and the water continued to run for the entire weekend.
“If Harvey Hall was still under construction, everything could have been much worse,” said media specialist Nick Dangeur, “There would be a major shortage in classrooms.”
Constructions workers outside of the UW–Stout system are working on making the necessary repairs to the damaged classrooms.
The drywall on both floors had to be removed. Contractor Market & Johnson assisted UW–Stout faculty with the removal. Along with the drywall, new insulation is also being installed. Some whiteboards and cabinet drawers also needed to be replaced.
All repairs are being finalized, and the replacement whiteboards have been delivered to campus. New cabinets have been ordered as well, and they will be installed as soon as they arrive.
Lyons said, “The cost is hard to estimate at present time, but I would estimate [that there was] around $35,000 in damage.”
Along with waiting for the drywall to dry, the walls needed to be repainted. Humidifiers were run from Nov. 17 to Nov. 19 in order to ensure that everything would dry.
“We’re pretty sure none of the technology [in Jarvis Hall] was damaged,” said Dangeur. “I will be checking the rooms on Friday [Nov. 17] in order to make sure everything is okay.”
As of Nov. 27, most of the work has been wrapped up, and any leftover damages are either repaired or in the process of being fixed.
Justin Utpadel, UW–Stout director of Physical Plant, wanted to include a major “thank you” towards all of those involved with the repairs.
“The hard work and cooperation of so many people really helped to minimize the disruption of the event as much as possible,” Utpadel said. “Those involved include: physical plant staff, registrar’s office, risk/safety control office and the affected college’s faculty and building users. I can’t forget to mention a thank you to the students that were affected. Thank you for your patience as we worked to put the Science Wing addition back together.”
The only repairs left are the cabinets that have to be installed in rooms 254 and 354. The cabinets have been ordered and will arrive within 10 to 12 weeks.