2008 Woodie Awards
Newman Center gets facelift
Kathyrn Converse
Issue date: 4/5/05 Section: News
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While many students are wondering what is happening with the Newman Center?s roof, Father Sam offers some answers about the process of getting a new roof and the complications that have slowed construction.
Anyone traveling on New Street between North and South Campuses has noticed that the Newman Center looks very quiet. All semester the sign in front of the Newman Center has read: "Closed for new roof." This has many students wondering what exactly happened to the old roof.
Father Sam of the Newman Center took the time to explain what is going on with the roof, and why it looks like there has been little construction over the past months. Putting on a new roof sounds far less complicated
than it actually is. The main problem with the roof has been the deterioration caused by years of water leakage.
This project is actually the third roof that the Newman Center will be receiving since the building opened in 1971. The policy with a third roof is that instead of constructing it over top of the first two, the first two roofs must be fully torn off in a process appropriately called a "complete tear-off."
As the project got underway and the first two roofs were being removed, it was discovered that the water damage was far more extensive than anyone had anticipated. Water leakage had penetrated through to the ceiling, making it necessary to repair the ceiling as well. Tiles from the drop ceiling were actually falling to the floor, said Father Sam.
The process becomes more complicated. What most students do not know is that between the exterior roof that protects the building from the elements and the drop tile ceiling that can be seen from the inside of the building, there are several feet of space containing wires, ventilation ducts, and a large metal grid which holds the ceiling tiles in place.All of this has been damaged by the water leakage from the roof, and now all of it has to be replaced. Essentially, the project went from putting a third roof on the Newman Center, to replacing the roof, the ceiling, and everything between them. The job was supposed to take three weeks, but it has now been months. "The deterioration can?t be allowed to continue," said Father Sam. "It has got to be replaced." Father Sam emphasized that no one is at fault for the deterioration and the delay in construction.
Anyone traveling on New Street between North and South Campuses has noticed that the Newman Center looks very quiet. All semester the sign in front of the Newman Center has read: "Closed for new roof." This has many students wondering what exactly happened to the old roof.
Father Sam of the Newman Center took the time to explain what is going on with the roof, and why it looks like there has been little construction over the past months. Putting on a new roof sounds far less complicated
than it actually is. The main problem with the roof has been the deterioration caused by years of water leakage.
This project is actually the third roof that the Newman Center will be receiving since the building opened in 1971. The policy with a third roof is that instead of constructing it over top of the first two, the first two roofs must be fully torn off in a process appropriately called a "complete tear-off."
As the project got underway and the first two roofs were being removed, it was discovered that the water damage was far more extensive than anyone had anticipated. Water leakage had penetrated through to the ceiling, making it necessary to repair the ceiling as well. Tiles from the drop ceiling were actually falling to the floor, said Father Sam.
The process becomes more complicated. What most students do not know is that between the exterior roof that protects the building from the elements and the drop tile ceiling that can be seen from the inside of the building, there are several feet of space containing wires, ventilation ducts, and a large metal grid which holds the ceiling tiles in place.All of this has been damaged by the water leakage from the roof, and now all of it has to be replaced. Essentially, the project went from putting a third roof on the Newman Center, to replacing the roof, the ceiling, and everything between them. The job was supposed to take three weeks, but it has now been months. "The deterioration can?t be allowed to continue," said Father Sam. "It has got to be replaced." Father Sam emphasized that no one is at fault for the deterioration and the delay in construction.
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