Facilities Management

• An Anderson Residence Hall sprinkler line on the third floor froze and burst on Wednesday afternoon, causing minor flooding. When the sprinkler line lost pressure, a fire alarm was triggered and fire trucks arrived and cleared the building. Maintenance and custodial workers arrived immediately and vacuumed up standing water and did other clean up within two hours. The first priority following the cleanup was to address the issue that caused cold air to freeze the pipe. The sprinkler line should be fixed early the week of December 16. Residence Life and Public Safety are doing extra fire watch building monitoring while the sprinkler line is down.
• Throughout the winter, maintenance is doing daily building rounds and adjustments to our energy management system in order to maintain heat.

As previously noted:

• A steam valve in Urness will be repaired as soon as the part is available to ensure heat and hot water. Residence Life plans to notify residents when the work is scheduled as hot water will be unavailable during the repair.
• The semi-annual fire alarm system testing will be December 23. The fire alarm company makes sure fire alarms are working. This testing will not sound the alarms. If you hear a fire alarm, please evacuate. 
• No water will be available from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. December 23 in Si Melby and Kennedy Center due to a City of Minneapolis water meter change out.
• The heating system in Christensen Center will undergo a mechanical/HVAC update in January. Until then, the second floor may be cooler when outdoor temperatures are below zero.

• The accessible parking spaces in Lot D now have proper signage to ensure

  

  their visibility when snow covers the ground markings.

• A leaking steam valve in Urness will be repaired as soon as the part is available to ensure heat and hot water. Residence Life plans to notify residents when the work is scheduled as hot water will be unavailable during the repair.
• The heating system in Christensen Center will undergo a mechanical/HVAC update in January. Until then, the second floor may be cooler when outdoor temperatures are below zero.
• The semi-annual fire alarm system testing will be December 23. The fire alarm company makes sure fire alarms are working. This testing will not sound the alarms. If you hear a fire alarm, please evacuate. 
• No water will be available from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. December 23 in Si Melby and Kennedy Center due to a City of Minneapolis water meter change out.
• The Hagfors lobby elevator repair noted in prior posts was completed before Thanksgiving.

• The repair of the Hagfors lobby elevator is taking longer than expected and may go into the week of November 25. There is an alternative north hall elevator that will be available if the lobby elevator is out of use.
• No maintenance is scheduled on Thanksgiving and the Friday afterward as well as the following week. 
• Look for the next update on Friday, December 6.

 

• Repair of the Hagfors lobby elevator is scheduled for Monday, November 18 and Tuesday, November 19. There is an alternative north hall elevator that will be available while the lobby elevator is unavailable.
• Annual safety training for Facilities staff is scheduled for the week of Monday, November 18.   The department holds at least a dozen training sessions a year that include environmental safety, fire extinguisher use, and back safety.
• Preparations for colder weather continue. Maintenance is winterizing air conditioning coils.

• To prepare for winter, Facilities staff are holding a logistics meeting with student workers to plan efficient snow removal.  The grounds crew has been putting new brushes on snow removal equipment and has ordered pallets of salt and snow shovels.  When the snow arrives, we employ our maintenance operators, custodians, and student workers to move snow from building entrances, parking lots, and sidewalks by early morning so students, faculty, and staff can get to and around campus.  Finally, in preparation for winter, the maintenance team also is winterizing air conditioner coils in campus buildings. 
• Five crabapple trees will be planted Monday and Tuesday along the south side of Seventh Street. Trees will then line both sides of this important corridor that connects the entrance to Foss with the front doors of the Hagfors Center.
• The Augsburg University Air Structure (known to most as the Augsburg Dome) went up on Sunday, November 10. About 35 campus and community groups schedule the space each year. Find out more.

•  The Augsburg University Air Structure (known to most as the Augsburg Dome) is going up November 9 and 10. About 35 campus and community groups schedule the space each year.
• Five crabapple trees will be planted along the south side of Seventh Street. Trees will then line both sides of this important corridor that connects the entrance to Foss with the front doors of the Hagfors Center. The timing is to be determined.
•  The annual underground inspection of steam mechanical vaults will start on Fairview’s property north of Riverside Avenue and end on the sidewalk of 22nd Avenue east of Memorial. This work starts Tuesday, November 5 and could go into Wednesday, November 6. Barricades will be put up that may briefly block sidewalk traffic on campus and a safety worker will route pedestrians around the barricades. The work will not impact street traffic on campus.
• Maintenance will be draining three cooling towers as part of the transition to winter. One is on the roof of Christiansen Center. Another is outside Foss. The third is on the west side of Lindell Library.