Summer changes courtesy of Facilities Management

By Mark Muckenfuss

This summer has been a particularly busy one for Cal State Monterey Bay’s Facilities Management, says Julie Wyrick, associate vice president of the department. 

When students and faculty largely evaporate for the summer months, it provides an opportunity for work crews to access many campus areas normally filled with people. Building repairs and improvements often can be done more quickly as staff and contractors are able to work unimpeded. 

Contractors accounted for a good deal of the work during the break, much of it focused on a $20 million conversion of Gavilan Hall to student residences. Formerly home to the KAZU radio studios and offices, the College of Extended Education and International Studies, and some IT offices, the 47,000-square-foot building is being remodeled into a residence hall that can accommodate over 200 students. Its 2,600-square-foot annex will house a study room, TV room, lounge and kitchen. 

Wyrick said the renovations are expected to be done by the time students move in for the fall semester starting Aug. 18.  

“Everything is on track,” Wyrick said in early July. “We are waiting for window delivery, which is later this month. That’s the linchpin.”

Final finishes to the inside can’t be completed until the windows are in place, she added.  

“We want to be able to protect whatever we do inside,” she said. 

Despite a few hiccups, the project has remained on schedule. 

“Being that it’s an Army facility and on the older side, the plans and what we found in the field didn’t always match,” Wyrick said. 

There were areas where reinforcing rebar was missing and had to be installed. Additionally, the building’s elevator stopped working early on in the renovation and had to be modernized. 

The foundation is nearly complete on the other big campus project, the Edward Taylor Science and Engineering Building, just south of Chapman Science Academic Center. That building, due to be completed by Fall 2027, will house the university’s mechatronics engineering program, marine science labs and the local National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration offices.

A beam-signing ceremony is expected to be held in September to mark the establishment of the building’s framing.

Much attention has been focused on the Strawberry Apartments in North Quad, Wyrick said. Repairs there largely addressed some flooding that took place during the year. 

“Unfortunately, we have flooding events that happen all year long from faucets left on or clogged drains and aging infrastructure,” she said. 

In both the Strawberry Apartments and the Vineyard Suites, there was evidence of water infiltration. 

“We saw more of that than we usually see,” she said. 

In addition, some upgrades were made to the residential life coordinator apartments in Strawberry by adding laundry facilities. 

Other projects that filled the summer months included:

• Minor remodeling of offices in the Alumni and Visitor Center;
• Establishing a dedicated lighted walkway between the Promontory Apartments and Lot 301;
• Pavement painting of crosswalks, stop sign limit lines and lettering;
• Paint touch-up on the interior and exterior of the Otter Student Union; 
• Erosion mitigation;
• Roof gutter cleaning; and 
• Pressure washing

“We accomplished a lot this summer,” Wyrick said. “We hope these improvements make for a great start to the new academic year.”