Many individuals on the Palouse felt the effects of the long, sporadic winter. However, it wasn’t just the people who were affected, but several buildings as well.
The Bruce M. Pitman Center on the University of Idaho campus was one such structure, and as a result, will need to undergo several repairs to fix portions of the crumbling tile exterior, which was severely impacted by the weather on the north end.
According to UI’s website, the Pitman Center was built in 1924 and originally served as restaurant, social and dance club. The building even went by a different name then — the Blue Bucket.
Although it no longer goes by that name, it still acts as a place of union for many student groups and administrative services, such as Student Accounts and Campus Visits.
Since the space is used so heavily, Ben Aiman said it is imperative for the university to remedy the delaminated tile that covers the outside portion of the International Ballroom.
Aiman, who oversees facility operations for several on-campus buildings at UI, including the Pitman Center, said the broken tile presented a welfare risk to anyone entering or exiting the building near the impaired area.
“Once a couple of pieces came off, then it became easier for some of the other pieces to keep coming off,” Aiman said. “Obviously, once something becomes a safety hazard, it takes a whole new level of urgency.”
In an effort to draw attention to the damage and future maintenance operations, university officials have posted several signs throughout the building, which state, “Pardon our repairs! Plans are underway to address the Bruce Pitman Center exterior.”
Aiman said he hasn’t heard any feedback — positive or negative — about the damaged tile and the upcoming repairs.
“We definitely are doing our best to communicate that a project is coming up and making people aware of it,” Aiman said.
Initially, Aiman said there was a tentative plan to put up scaffolding around the affected area to mitigate any possible tiles from falling off.
He said UI brought in Castellaw Kom Architects from Lewiston to review the building and provide a summary of the university’s construction options moving forward.
Aiman said the firm looked at either completely removing all of the tile and replacing it with a new solution, such as a terra cotta product, or covering the damaged portion with a metal panel.
Aiman said the last update he received narrowed the project scope to just covering the existing tile, but he was unsure of what material would be used to do so, since the project is still in the early planning phase.
Currently, he said the repairs are under review and the university has requested $1.5 million to support the restoration through the Idaho Permanent Building Fund for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1.
According to the Idaho Division of Public Works, the project is not yet up for bid to any construction companies, so no set timeline has been established.
“I’m not sure exactly what the final plans look like and hopefully we’ll have some more information soon,” Aiman said.
Aiman said he doesn’t anticipate the repairs will severely impact access in and out of the building or the interior portion of the Pitman Center once they begin.
He said he suspects the project will move quicker as soon as FY19 begins, since the money requested would be made available at that point, if granted by the state.
“If it was just a problem that could’ve been patched up, then that might have been the way to go about it, but my guess is that that just wasn’t going to be cost effective or provide long-term safety,” Aiman said.
Olivia Heersink can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @heersinkolivia