By: Brian Holak
It is going to be a busy year for Suffolk’s facilities management department.
Along with the massive 20 Somerset St. project, Gordon King, Senior Director of Facilities Planning and Management, has several other construction and maintenance projects planned for the coming year and beyond.
“There’s always more to do,” says King.
Sitting in his office on the 12th floor of the 73 Tremont St. building, it is easy to see the truth in King’s words. More than 20 multi-colored file folders lie in neat rows on his desk, each filled to capacity with papers regarding separate slices of Suffolk’s maintenance, management and construction plans.
One of those plans involves rebuilding the elevators in Sawyer—something King says is “dreadfully overdue.” The current elevators are old and small, causing serious congestion at high-traffic times throughout the day. Although the details are not finalized, King says he plans to work on one elevator at a time, similar to how the elevators at 150 Tremont St. were rebuilt. With only one elevator out of service at a time, the hope is that the students will not be greatly impacted by the construction, which is set to start sometime in the Spring.
Another sizeable project is an upgrade of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system in the 150 Tremont building. This HVAC replacement project is extensive and expected to cost around $8 million, over the course of several years. Construction is set to start in May. And that is not all of the improvements that King has planned for the 150 building.
Starting later this month and continuing until November, the façade of the dorm building will be repaired. Scaffolding and mast-climbers will be set up along the entrance, allowing workers to replace mortar joints, broken stone, and make the structure waterproof and airproof. There have been issues with the airproof nature of the building in the past, causing burst pipes and cold rooms, so this project will decrease the chances of similar problems occurring in the future.
A new student lounge will soon be situated on the ninth floor of 73 Tremont as well. King plans to have that set up by mid-October. This will be especially convenient now that the Center for Learning and Academic Success has moved to the third floor of the library.
As King explains, deferred maintenance projects make up a large amount of the work to be done at the school.
This is because of the age of the buildings and facilities at Suffolk. As with all old structures, it is a challenge to maintain Suffolk’s buildings and make sure they are updated and running smoothly. But, King and the Facilities Planning and Management department continue to rise to the challenge, assuring that the buildings are safe and meet all of the students’ needs.
Part of meeting students’ needs means dealing not just with the big projects, but also with the small ones. As King realizes, it is the little things that can make a big difference. That is why he is continuing a pilot project this year in which the light bulbs in the Law School and other buildings will be replaced with energy-conserving light bulbs. This will drive down energy costs a significant amount.
In the next week, the $400,000 carpet replacement project in Miller will be completed. In the next month, there will also be some new furniture in the Donahue cafeteria and 150 lounges. Most people do not spend much time thinking about what it takes to keep a university well-maintained. As King shows, it takes ambitions, drive, and attention to detail. Every detail counts, whether planning large, multi-year projects or changing the lights.
Although King is a busy man, thinking constantly of numbers, figures and measurements, he has not lost touch with the people he is doing these projects for—the students. He encourages students to give him feedback, whether positive or negative, regarding any of the new projects. King says that the more feedback he gets the better off his department and the Suffolk community can be.
