University maintenance projects receive $26 million in deferred funding

By Hannah Hess

In a meeting Tuesday morning, $26 million dollars was allocated to deferred maintenance projects by the Academic Facilities Maintenance Fund Assessment (AFMFA).

“The most transparent [of the projects] is $9 million towards fixing the exterior of Lincoln Hall,” said student body president Jaclyn O’Day.

Deferred maitenance is defined by the Facilities and Services Web site as the upkeep of buildings and equipment postponed from an entity’s normal operating budget due to a lack of funds.

An electronic vote by administrators and students gave the AFMFA board an accurate assessment of the significance of various projects to the campus community.

“Different factors for each of the 18 projects we had proposed were ranked on a scale from one to 100,” said O’Day. “Neat the top were projects that involved reducing our energy consumption and some major building renovations.”

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David Kinley Hall is one recipient of deferred maintenance funding. Desks currently bolted to the floors of its classrooms will be removed and the walls of the hall will get fresh paint, said O’Day.

“Another project is replacing the patio in the Foreign Language Building because currently, as it is, water is leaking down into the basement where the computers are,” said O’Day.

The student body president summarized the project selections saying, “Overall what we focused on were those things that were time-sensitive.”