Damaged hall to get new tower

By Nathan Dean
Editor in Chief

Two years ago, a windstorm destroyed a large portion of University Hall. Last weekend, a construction crew finished off the job.

On Saturday, the Tradesman Group from Ohio, lifted the tower off University hall to the ground to replace it with a new one, according to project manager Mike Warden.

"The tower and spire will be dismantled and a newer, stronger one will be put back in its place," said Warden.

On Dec. 6, 1998, a storm with powerful horizontal winds caused the flat edge of the roof next to the tower to rise and strike the tower. Warden said that the damage from the flat edge went through three roof rafters located inside the tower.

University Hall, the oldest building on campus, houses the history department and other liberal art classes. Classes were disrupted in the winter of 1998 to repair the damage. Repairs to the tower included attaching steel cables to the tower and then roping them to a large steel object in the attic. Costs of the temporary repairs were around $40,000.

Costs for the total project, however, will reach $1,048,000. The cost includes everything from the contractor to the insurance costs. The Tradesman Group has until Dec. 15 to finish the work, but it is expected to be done by October.

Work was to begin at the beginning of the year, but numerous delays in funding and budget planning kept the project from beginning.

"We started bidding in January, but we needed routine approval, which we didn't get until June," said Warden.

Warden also said that he doesn't foresee any problems or disruptions to classes being held during the semester.

"All of the major noise problems, such as hammering, will be done before the end of the summer. We don't anticipate any noise but education is the most important thing. If there's a problem, we will fix it," said Warden.

Until the end of the construction work, all of the repairs will be done on site. So far, the crew is in the process of shingling the roof where the damage was done. After all of the slate tiles are replaced, the tower will then be constructed and then lifted the four stories to the top of the hall. The old one will be dismantled and destroyed.

"We had to build a new one because the old one didn't meet any of the safety codes we had," said Warden.

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