Campuses under knife as facelifts give nips, tucks
by Chris Taylor, editor-in-chief

    (First in a four-part series about maintaining campus facilities.)

   The song tells us “London Bridge is falling down,” and with many of TCC’s buildings being close to 30 years old, the district is doing its best to maintain the campuses.

   TCC is constantly doing routine preventive maintenance to keep its buildings safe and in compliance with state and federal laws.

   Some current renovations at TCC are the warehouse and asbestos removal on NE Campus, water pressure issues and the construction of the fire academy on NW Campus, black mold and the renovation of the pool on South Campus and puddling in the parking lots and space issues on SE Campus.

   Environmental concerns have become a focal point in recent years, and because of that, many materials and the methods of their disposal have changed to keep hazardous materials from damaging our environment.

   TCC administration has the authority to contract small jobs; larger, more costly renovations usually require board approval.

   The renovation on the South Campus HPE building is a major project and needed board approval.

   Usually when a problem arises, the administration will identify the problem and then determine the best and most economic way to fix it.

   SE Campus is relatively new, so it obviously has fewer problems than some of the older campuses. But, there are always issues with space or lack of it.

   SE Campus has about 1,000 more students than it was actually designed to hold, so space usage is maximized.

   “Anytime space becomes available, we find a way to adapt it for student use,” Dr. Judith Carrier, SE Campus president, said.

   There has also been some puddling of water in the parking lot during heavy rains.

   This problem is caused by poor quality of soil under the campus, but maintenance has found ways to level the area to combat the pooling of water.

   On NE Campus, asbestos, which was used in the original construction of some buildings, is being removed.

   In the ’60s, asbestos was used for just about everything before it was found to be a carcinogen. Some of its uses include fire retardant, floor tiles and insulation. It was used because it was cheap and virtually indestructible.

   Now that asbestos has been proved unhealthy, it has been phased out and is being removed from any type of building.

   To remove asbestos, an abatement crew is usually called in to remove all aspects of the material, including fibers.

   The removal is also monitored by a third party, who tests the area for traces of asbestos. After the removal of the asbestos, it is disposed of in a safe and proper way.

   Steve Kleypas, director of hazardous material management, oversees the removal of such materials, including asbestos and black mold, which has been found on South Campus.

   “The black mold, or stachybotrys as its called by its scientific name, thrives in wet, warm areas,” he said.

   The instructional media area under the library on South Campus flooded because of a tremendous amount of spring rain. The water leak had been a problem for years, but when boxes were being moved around, black mold was found.

   “The mold is a black-greenish color and grows best in and on paper products. Sheet rock has a paper covering and is a good place for the mold to grow when wet,” he said.

   The mold removal process is identical to the asbestos removal, Kleypas said.

   First, the contaminated area is isolated with containments. The containments are a polyethylene room that is airtight and only accessible through limited areas.

   The contaminated air is then sucked through high-efficiency air filters, which remove all traces of the foreign substance from the area.

   In essence, a vacuum is created inside the area, Kleypas said.

   “The removal of hazardous materials has become better, more efficient and very highly refined,” he said.

   (Next, a look at fixing the campus problems.)