In a move to improve building facilities on campus, the Physical Plant Department is renovating and remodeling several high-traffic restrooms on campus.
The improvements are taking place because of several complaints aimed at various physical plant offices.
"We knew these needed to be addressed," said Harvey Chace, associate director of the Physical Plant Department for maintenance and construction. "These were overdue renovations."
The work is just the beginning of an ongoing, campus-wide effort to improve facilities on campus, Chace said.
So far, the Physical Plant has renovated two restrooms on the north side of the Fine Arts Center. Those restrooms were among the first to be renovated because of the high traffic they receive from Popejoy Hall patrons, Chace said.
Renovations to the Fine Arts Center restrooms include new sinks, plumbing, paint, toilet fixtures and increased lighting.
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In addition to those renovations, restrooms in Mitchell Hall also are getting a touch-up.
Mitchell Hall, Chace said, is receiving more extensive renovations because it gets a high amount of traffic and its facilities were in major need of improvements.
Chace said two of Mitchell Hall's four restrooms have already been renovated, including new paint, improved lighting, ceiling work, new counters and new automatic sinks and toilets. The two remaining restrooms will be completed as soon as the other two have been reopened he added.
Chace added that the automatic fixtures would be easier for staff to maintain, more sanitary and help conserve water.
"They contribute to our overall water conservation program," he said
Four restrooms in the College of Engineering also are slated to be revamped, Chace said.
Funding for the restroom improvements comes from the state's Building Renewal and Replacement fund. The fund provides revenue for public institutions to renovate and improve buildings when necessary.
"We dedicated some of those funds to this restroom effort," Chace said.
Chace added that restrooms are not the only components of buildings on campus that require upkeep and maintenance.
UNM and other public institutions experienced a boom in construction during the late 1960s and early '70s in reaction to the increased number of baby boomers attending college, Chace said. Now, he added, those buildings are in need of renovation to make them more responsive to today's needs as well as general maintenance that is normal with any 30-year-old building.
Problems such as electrical wiring, plumbing and cooling and heating ducts need to be constantly evaluated.
To raise funds for those needed improvements, Chace has helped put a proposal on the November ballot to allocate more funds toward higher education infrastructure. If the proposal is passed, UNM would receive about $6 million that will be used to fund improvements to a core-building project, Chace said.
The core building project, Chace said, will focus on improving some of UNM's core classroom buildings such as Castetter Hall and the Anthropology Building. Those buildings represent core facilities that have been on campus for a long time and will be here for a while, Chace said.
The $6 million figure is only about one-tenth of what UNM needs to complete several building-improvement projects, Chace said. The University plans to ask for a similar amount each year for the next decade to improve various campus buildings.
Even if voters do not pass the proposal in November, Chace said he is happy with the renovations that have taken place so far.
"We're very pleased. We think the students will be very surprised when the fall semester starts," Chace said.
