Students who attend classes within the College Complex have likely run into the blockade on the second floor right next to the Core building. This blockade was placed as a precaution by structural engineers when the college decided to investigate the crack in the building that occurred years ago. Although there was no timeframe for how long it would be there, it’s been nine months since the blockade was put up and there’s still no signs of it going away soon.
The crack in the ceiling was spotted back in the spring semester, when current staff members were doing an onsite assessment of the college for a planned renovation. Director of Maintenance and Operations Jarrod Holocombe and his team set up a temporary support structure for the time being.
“While the crack was initially discovered around 20 years ago, it was recently determined that it may have widened slightly,” said Holocombe. “We immediately hired a structural engineer to assess the situation.”
Holocombe said that if the engineer had determined the crack posed a significant risk to the structural integrity to the building, necessary steps such as temporarily closing the College Complex would have been taken. So far, the bracing set up by Holocombe and his team has proven to be enough for the time being.
During this time, Vice President of Business and Administrative Services Carlos Montoya got together with the engineering team to look at investigating the structural integrity of the area.
“The engineer team developed an analysis and proposed a solution in discussion with the DSA (Division of State Architect) office,” said Montoya. “The initial discussion was held over zoom last spring and this summer DSA approved a proposed repair.”
As for how much longer, Montoya said that there is no current timeline for the repair. Although it seems simple enough to slap on some concrete and call it a day, the work required is actually specialized and trying to find an appropriate contractor who can do it has proven to be difficult. Holobombe himself said he didn’t know much about the repair other than it is “a very specific type of installation that only a select few contractors have the training on.“
“That is why we’re having such a difficult time finding a subcontractor that has the ability to complete this task.”
The blockade may be a slight annoyance to everyone who has to adjust their path around the College Complex, but for LMC it’s worth it for the safety of students and staff.
