Minard repairs in full swing
Written by Naman Mittal Friday, 15 January 2010 08:00
A portion of the northwestern side of Minard Hall collapsed on Sunday, Dec. 27. The incident occurred in the middle of the night between midnight and 3 a.m., and no one was inside the building. Right beside the collapsed portion excavation work was going as part of the Minard Renovation Project.
“We still don’t know the exact reasons behind the collapse but footing under the foundation failed. It will take a while for the decisions to be released as debris needs to be removed in order to make sure what really happened,” Director of Facilities Management Bruce Frantz said.
An open forum was organized on Jan. 7 where President Hanson interacted with faculty, staff, and students, and answered their questions about department and classroom relocations for the beginning of the Spring semester.
Minard Hall is divided into three parts. The south section of the building was built in 1902, the center section was built in 1918, and the north section, which was the site of the collapse, was built in 1929.
The south and center sections remain safe and all classrooms located in the two sections are currently in use. However, the north section is still closed to students, faculty and staff.
“Retrieval of items from the offices is underway and contractors have been to offices which are safe and stable to get in. Still, some items are in the very north part of the building. These portions are still unsafe for contractors and every step is taken to ensure their safety. It will be a while before the equipments and items will be retrieved from the offices on the north edge,” Frantz said.
Every update of information is posted on the Minard Hall Updates Web site, located at http://www.ndsu.edu/news/features/portionofminardhallcollapses/. The page shows three colored zones in Minard – red, green and blue. The red zone is the portion that is majorly damaged, whose offices for faculty and staff are relocated.
As of Monday, it will take at least one more week for faculty and staff to move back in the blue zone as engineering consultants have recommended building a load-bearing wall dividing the northwest and northeast portion of the 1929 section of Minard.
In the green zone, movers packed the items in the offices for relocation during the weekend and beginning of the week.
“We are relocating affected staff and faculty in temporary quarters on campus until we can get them back in the building. Vacant spaces are being located all over the campus to accommodate these people. As a renovation project in Barry Hall was underway, a lot of vacant space is available. We are planning to expedite the project and transfer a majority of people in Barry Hall for fall semester,” Frantz said.
The affected classrooms in Minard Hall are 215, 219, 220 and 322A. New room assignments were made for each of these and all information regarding the new classroom locations can be found in the Spring 2010 Schedule at http://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/rr/schedule/spring/1030.pdf or on Campus Connection.
Information regarding the new locations of affected faculty and staff will be soon released by Deans Tom Riley and Kevin McCaul.
According to NDSU News, counseling services are being offered. For more information you can contact either Broc Lietz at 231-8958 or Colette Erickson at 231-8788.
