Facilities holds town meeting
Facilities holds town meeting
The incorporation of new management software and the continuation of capital and deferred maintenance projects within the framework of budgetary adjustments were among the chief topics of discussion during the second annual Facilities Town Hall Meeting on Friday, Jan. 25.
Speaking to members of the UD community in 140 Smith Hall, Robert Stozek, assistant vice president for Facilities, said that the various Facilities units will continue their mission to design, construct and maintain safe and highly functional buildings while working to expand communication with its customers.
"Our long-term focus is to make the right decisions and share information about planned changes and upcoming construction," Stozek said. "Most importantly, we want to hear from our customers and take away ideas about what we can do."
Dick Walter, director of Facilities Management, explained that when it comes to deferred maintenance, there are three principal areas: critical, secondary and looming projects.
Critical deferred maintenance projects, totaling $6.925 million, include roof and window repairs and replacements, structural projects and infrastructure updates in various campus locations.
With a total estimated cost of $16 million, secondary deferred maintenance of academic areas includes mechanical, electrical, plumbing and structural repairs and upgrades.
In an effort to meet maintenance goals, both operational and deferred, while streamlining costs, Facilities is in the process of converting to MAXIMO Enterprise, an enterprise asset management system from MRO Software, Walter said.
"A key goal is to provide more information to our customers," Walter said. "You will be able to access information to all work we are doing by going to the web."
Victor Costa, director of Facilities Planning and Construction, noted that several major construction projects are scheduled for completion within the next calendar year.
Among these are the $26.4 million expansion of DuPont Hall, scheduled for completion in May, and the $26 million renewal and renovation of Wolf Hall, now scheduled for completion in January 2003.
Other projects due for construction this summer include the renovation of Raub Hall, which will be new home of the Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management and the new Hollingsworth Art Building.
"Starting this summer, you will see the Mall coming back to what it was before the DuPont and Wolf Hall projects," Costa said. "The departments now located in the old Hollingsworth Building will move into the new building and the old building garages will be replaced by additional parking spaces."
Stozek said that Facilities will not be doing any major capital projects in the near future, but instead will work on refining project design and customer communication.
"We have to open this line of communication, so people feel comfortable with us," Stozek said. "We also have to look at the way we currently do things and see how we can change to be more cost efficient."
JERRY RHODES
Photo by Duane Perry
