Issue date: 8/17/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Brian O’Shaughnessy

The damage reports and cost estimates are still rolling in from a late July downpour that left three campus buildings with water damage.

Magruder Hall, Ophelia Parrish and Pershing Arena all felt the effects - in varying degrees of seriousness - of about a foot of rain that fell in a 24-hour period.

Dave Rector, director of institutional research and budgets, said costs for flood repairs mostly will be covered by insurance. Truman has a building insurance policy with a $50,000 deductible, which means the University will pay the first $50,000 in damages and then be reimbursed for any further costs.

"Bottom line, it's just like a homeowner's insurance policy," he said.

Rector said he expects the damages to far exceed $50,000 as a new floor in Pershing Arena alone will cost double that amount.

The parquet floor in Pershing Arena presents the most urgent problem, and workers arrived Tuesday to begin removing the warped wood. Bids from companies who would install a new floor were submitted to the University on Aug. 12.

Director of Athletics Jerry Wollmering said he told each company that the new floor must be in place by the beginning of October, in time for the start of practices for the men's and women's basketball teams.

Charles Luebbert Hardwood Floors out of Jefferson City, Mo., is handling the demolition and disposal of the damaged floor. Wollmering said he expects removal and installation of a new floor to cost a little more than $100,000. This would be similar to the cost of the now-damaged floor that was installed in summer 2006, he said.

Damages to Pershing Building still are being discovered. Wollmering said Wednesday that swimming head coach Mark Gole informed him that the electronic timing system at Pershing Natatorium might have sustained significant water damage. The estimated cost to replace that system, if needed, is $25,000.

Wollmering said he hopes most of the costs for repairs to Pershing Building are covered by insurance and that he does not expect athletic fee money to be used for repairs.

Across the street in Magruder Hall, electric controls in a mechanical room will need to be replaced, Physical Plant director Karl Schneider said. He said the estimated cost is about $10,000. The damaged controls operate pumps and valves in the mechanical room, he said.

Pipe insulation in the steam tunnel underneath the building also must be replaced after being ruined by floodwater, and Schneider said the estimated cost for that replacement is about $11,000.

Continued...

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