Construction on the Information Commons building at the Lake Shore Campus was completed on Nov. 14., according to Senior Associate Vice President for Facilities Kana Henning.
Construction on the Information Commons (IC) on Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus was completed Nov. 14, according to Senior Associate Vice President for Facilities Kana Henning
The IC experienced leaks, which resulted in interior rooms needing to be repaired, Paul Voelker, director of the IC, told The Phoenix in an email.
The staff has worked closely with Loyola Facilities and has received updates throughout the construction process to ensure it runs smoothly, Voelker wrote in an email to The Phoenix.
“With all projects, especially those involving an existing building, issues will arise that are called ‘found conditions’ which no one in the project team could have anticipated,” Henning wrote in an email to The Phoenix.
In addition to found conditions, other factors such as global supply chain issues can delay a construction project, Henning wrote.
A project team consists of representatives from Loyola, an architect, and the contractor. The project team meets regularly to review project documents, schedules and address or troubleshoot any issues which arise throughout the construction process, Henning wrote.
Jacques said to initiate construction projects, Loyola employs private contractors in numerous trades to complete the construction. A request for proposal (RFP), a business document used to collect bids for projects, is sent to several contractors for projects — a common practice in construction work, Jacques told The Phoenix in an email.
An RFP introduces the project, describes the project in detail and begins to seek out bids from contractors to start the construction project, according to the Associated Press.
“An architect or engineer creates drawings that get issued to contractors to bid on, or provide their proposal of the project cost,” Henning wrote. “Loyola reviews those bids with the architect or engineer to evaluate them for completeness, accuracy and whether they meet our budget and contract schedule.”
After a winning bid is selected, Loyola enters into a contract with the selected contractor, Henning wrote.
Sophomore Josh Pogonitz said he thinks students may judge construction projects based on how long they take without looking at the difficult work being done.
“I think the university has a lot going on at the same time,” Pogonitz, 20, said. “They are doing the best that they can. It can be easy to judge from a student’s perspective, but I think you have to look at it from a dialectic perspective.”
Voelker said the library appreciates the efforts of the Facilities Department scheduling these maintenance and construction projects.
