Brookens Under Construction

September 24, 2008
By Drew Thomason
Staff Writer

Photo by David Clary

College can be described as a series of obstacles to over come. For students at the University of Illinois at Springfield, this has become a literal matter.

To walk through the front doors of Brookens Library, one must navigate a maze lined with fencing, heavy machinery and large sheets of glass. Since the start of the semester, workers have creating an ever-shifting obstacle course while replacing the windows on the third floor of Brookens. But no one is complaining.

“We haven’t heard of anybody having any problems; the people doing work are  good at putting up fences around where they are working,” Jane Treadwell, Dean of UIS library and University Librarian said.

The current windows are being removed to install double pane replacements in an effort to save energy and as routine maintenance said Michael Doerr, the director of construction for facilities and services.
“This is a 1970’s building and when it was built they used single pane glass. (Now) the windows leak water, they leak air,” Doerr said.

Contractors must remove and replace both the glass and aluminum framing of all the windows. Working with large panes of glass and heavy machinery is inherently treacherous work, but they are not the only hazards the contractors have to work with.

An employee of one of the contractors who spoke on the condition of anonymity said his company is required to take air samples for asbestos because there are fibers around the frames.

“Asbestos is not a concern. We did testing and there are asbestos fibers in caulking around the windows but they do not get into airstream,” Doerr said.

The worker said the reason asbestos is not a worry because it is “found in the caulking, which is just like glue; It holds the fibers in.”

Students inside the library do not need to be apprehensive about asbestos because all the work is being done from the outside, therefore it is considered an outdoor job, according to Doerr.

Both he and the contractor said that if this project was taking place in any where else, they would not have to continually test for asbestos, adding that Illinois is one of the most regulated states concerning the substance.
The third floor is expected to be done by November and then the contractors will move on to the fourth floor. Completion of the fourth floor is expected to take longer than the current work because of the amount of extra decretive metal needed to be removed. However, Treadwell remains optimistic.

“The project is going a lot faster than I thought it would ... I try to keep in mind that the windows putting in are double paned and will save us energy and energy cost in the long run.”