MVSU to fix leaks, mold at facility

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April 24, 2005

MVSU to fix leaks, mold at facility

By Riva Brown

rvbrown@...

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

AID=/20050424/NEWS01/504240372/1002

Newman

A flooding roof, mold and mildew are forcing about 200 people to

move out of Mississippi Valley State University's nearly $10 million

administration building, university officials say.

President Lester Newman said the building, which was completed in

July 1999, has had problems since employees moved in. " It was just

poorly designed and poorly constructed from our point of view, "

Newman said. " We never signed off on the building because of

concerns. We're fortunate that we remained consistent in our

concerns, and finally we were heard and something is being done

about it. "

The building floods through the roof and on the sides when it rains

and is bleeding moisture, he said. The air quality must be checked

every month because of mold and mildew, and some bricks were not

tied to studs, he added.

Klumb

Outgoing state College Board President Roy Klumb said the body can

make sure it is dealing with strong companies in the future.

" There should be real penalties for this sort of stuff in terms of

going back to these companies and demanding that they fix the

problem, " Klumb said. " One of the penalties would be that they would

be disallowed from doing any future business with (the board) until

they get former problems corrected. "

The state is negotiating with the contractor, Inman Construction Co.

in Memphis, to make repairs, said , director of the

Bureau of Buildings.

The main concern probably has to do with the subcontractor under

Inman's control, he said.

" Is the building structurally sound? Yes. It's generally a good

building. There are some problems, and we're working with the

contractor to try to resolve these problems. They have been

amenable, " said.

Inman Construction Co. President Page Inman was unavailable for

comment Friday and wouldn't be available until the first of the

week, an employee said.

No one else at the company would comment in Inman's absence.

University employees must be out of the four-story building by June

1, Newman said. Repairs will take 18 months, officials said. Some

who occupy the 80,625-square-foot building on the Itta Bena campus

will move into modular buildings. The state is paying for relocation

and utilities.

The administration building houses the offices of the president,

academic affairs, university relations, public relations, alumni,

community and economic development, institutional research and

planning, financial aid, and admissions and records, Newman said.

The Department of Social Work faculty and some business faculty also

work in the building.

" We're telling our faculty, staff and students that this is a part

of progress, " Newman said. " It's going to be an inconvenience for a

while for all of us. It's a beautiful building, the landmark

building as you come onto campus, so we want it to be right. "

said Inman has done work for other universities and is

doing work now.

In the future, a third party will review plans to make sure a

building's design is functional and provides a guide for the

contractor during construction, said.

The bureau also will help train facility managers.

" We're just trying to pursue these corrective measures so the

university will have the facility that was supposed to be designed

and constructed, " said.