Last week, The Daily Lobo surveyed more than 100 students regarding which buildings on campus they thought were the most poorly maintained.
Ortega Hall topped the list with 23 percent of the vote, followed by the Art Building with 17 percent and Marron Hall with 15 percent.
UNM student Dominique Maffucci said he regularly attends class in Ortega Hall, and that both the design and upkeep are poor.
“Ortega has classrooms with no windows and not enough desks for the classes that they put in there,” he said. “It’s old and not very well kept-up, and there are some strange central corridors that zigzag through there that are really disorienting, and you have to access most of the classrooms from outside.”
The UNM Art Building, rated second-worst maintained, has experienced worsening structural problems for nearly two years, according to art professor Adrienne Salinger.
“The Art Building doesn’t appear to be structurally sound,” she said in a previous interview with the Daily Lobo on Sept. 6.
“Several of the workers who insisted on anonymity were shocked that we are still occupying the building in this condition when I spoke with them over the last couple weeks.”
According to Mary Vosevich, UNM Physical Plant Department’s director, PPD sent a structural engineer to the Art Building and determined the building is structurally sound.
PPD filled a gap between the dirt and the load-bearing walls with concrete last week.
Students said multiple buildings across campus need renovation, not just the Art Building.
Student Philip Gengenagel said Sarah Reynolds Hall is poorly maintained because it isn’t used by many students.
“The whole inside of the building looks totally run-down,” he said. “Even the sign for it isn’t painted very well, and it’s so hard to find because it isn’t kept up, and nobody goes there. The windows look like they are from the 40s. I have three classes in there this semester; it’s terrible.”
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Vosevich said PPD sets aside building renewal and replacement funds, which are allotted by the state through a formula based on the square feet PPD is in charge of.
Last year, Vosevich said PPD took a permanent budget cut of $1.3 million, a one-time cut of $635,000 and did not receive an additional $1.2 million that was allotted, which left PPD with a budget of $3 million dollars for renovations.
Vosevich said PPD completes about 50,000 work orders a year and has to distribute money to buildings with the greatest need.
“We have a lot of different maintenance on our campus because of the vintage of our campus,” she said. “We have a lot of old buildings here … Our focus is building functionality … while still allowing the educational and research mission of the institution to continue.”
PPD is currently renovating Logan Hall, recently completed additions to the Biology department and renovations on Mitchell Hall. Vosevich said PPD works on future building design with the planning department.
“We have to ensure that our newest buildings perform to the best of their capabilities,” she said. “We want them to be energy-efficient, and we consider how they will be used and the load that they will take when thinking about updating or renewing.”
