April 8, 2005

Report: Repair backlog creating 'crisis' for Purdue facilities

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A backlog of deferred maintenance totaling $410 million is causing a situation that, if not addressed soon, could mean some Purdue buildings will be beyond repair, according to a report presented today (Friday, April 8) to the university's board of trustees.

Morgan R. Olsen, Purdue's executive vice president and treasurer, told the trustees, "We must attack and reverse the growth of deferred repair and rehabilitation. The state has not been able fund this as it had intended for more than a decade, leading to the current crisis."

The state had established a formula that set the baseline for its investment in maintenance each year. The baseline has only been reached, however, once in the past 10 years.

"We appreciate the fact that many of our state leaders understand the problem and are trying to help," Olsen said. "These leaders see themselves as partners with Purdue and want to maintain this state asset –a $4 billion capital investment. While we are very appreciative of their support, though, the reality is that we no longer can wait to solve this problem."

The problem is compounded because when repairs are delayed, buildings wear out sooner, he added.

"The lack of maintenance has reduced the life expectancy of buildings and will require many structures to be replaced significantly earlier than anticipated," he said.

Assessments show that if funding is not significantly increased now, six buildings on campus will face such a maintenance backlog that it could ultimately prove cheaper to raze them than repair them, Olsen said. Those buildings are Chaffee Hall, Life Science Plant and Soils Laboratory, Lilly Hall of Life Sciences, Poultry Science Building, University Hall and Wetherill Laboratory of Chemistry.

He recommended that the university find other ways to fund $116 million of the most pressing projects in a "reasonable timeframe."

"That will address the things that need to be fixed," Olsen said. "That doesn't even take into consideration what we call deferred renewal – things that need to be upgraded to meet current program needs. That would cost an additional $293 million."

He illustrated the dilemma with financial information from the past four years:

"In the past four years, the state has been able to invest only $4 million in repair and renovation at the West Lafayette campus when $60 million was called for in the funding formula," he said.

The situation involves more than brick and mortar, he added, telling the board about a Purdue researcher whose lab was located in a basement area that has twice flooded due to old equipment or equipment failures.

In both cases, the researcher said it took months to clean the lab, and several hundred thousand dollars in equipment was damaged. In addition to those direct costs, the scientist and his group lost valuable research time and, possibly, additional federal funding for his work.

Purdue University encompasses more than 400 buildings spread across more than 18,000 acres on four campuses and numerous agricultural and research properties throughout the state.

Source: Morgan Olsen, (765) 494-9705, mrolsen@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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