After 15 years of leaking roofs on the IUS campus and requests from Bloomington to the state for Repair and Rehabilitation funding for roof repairs, Hillside Hall, Physical Science and the Activities buildings will have new roofs in place by the end of the year. 
Robert Snip, director of Physical Plant, submitted a request for more R&R funding to repair the roofs of Hillside Hall, Physical Science Building and the Activities Building so leaking roofs and flooding offices could stop being a problem for IUS students and faculty.

Snip said the request is first submitted to Bloomington and then placed in a master spreadsheet which in turn is sent to the State.

“One of the reasons it has taken this long to get this type of funding is that when a state has financial difficulties, R&R is usually the first type of funding that is cut from the state’s budget,” Snip said.

Snip said that due to the economic problems which began in 2001, for not only the State of Indiana but for most states around the country, it has been an issue to get the type of repairs IU Southeast has been in need of for the past 15 years.

Hillside Hall’s roof leaked last week as result from water-absorbed insulation being disturbed by repairs.

Snip said rain caused wet insulation to overflow and leak into offices and classrooms.

“We thought originally it was a flood test but it turned out that water had been trapped in the membrane under the copper rust and due to the copper being ripped off for repairs the disturbance caused the faculty offices to flood,” Snip said.

Snip said that even though IU Southeast only recently received the funding needed for new roofs on campus buildings, overall the campus is lucky to have received the amount needed due to the ongoing economic crisis that has affected the State of Indiana.

“We have been very fortunate and we are pushing ahead,” Snip said.

By ERICA SELLERS
Staff Writer
emseller@ius.edu