Update on FC, Strayer renovations

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Hanna Schiciano

The FC dance studios and Strayer gym are set to be completed by Jan. 21 and on or about Feb. 4, respectively, Craig Dunne, head of engineering and maintenance, said. Hurricane Ida caused over one million dollars worth of damage to the facilities in September 2021. 

The first goal was to get all of the faculty and staff back into their FC and Strayer offices after winter break, which was accomplished.

Dunne said that the dance floors were completed this week and that the remainder of the mirrors have to be put up before dancers can return to the spaces by next Friday.

“When the water poured into Strayer, it went into one of the mechanical rooms. All of that work has been done,” he said. 

Before starting construction on Strayer gym, “We had to air test the buildings, which I did and found that there was mold because of the flooding, which meant that we had to bring in the insurance company and they dictated policy on what had to come out and what could stay. We ended up demo-ing more than three quarters of the spaces that were flooded by the water.”

The air has been tested throughout the entire construction process, he said. 

Afterwards, the construction team had to test the floor and, fortunately, it was asbestos-free. Dunne said that he thought they would be able to leave-in some of the floor and save a month’s worth of work, but the dimensions of the new flooring caused problems. 

“We had to strip-up the old floor and then we had to go through this huge process of stripping up all of the old glue that was used on the original floor from the 1950s. That took three weeks on its own.”

Dunne provided an update on Strayer’s current status. 

“That floor is now going back in and is probably halfway done. I also have grillwork there and some prep work with the walls that still have to be done, but other than that, the gym will be handed back to athletics probably three weeks from today [interview: Jan. 14].”