For students who traverse through Maucker Union either to get to class, eat, or study, you may have noticed buckets that adorn the walkways every so often. These buckets are placed there by university staff due to leaks in the roof of the Union. These leaks, cosmetic appearance and lighting options are all things that the Maucker Union staff want to tackle as they map out their renovation plans for the upcoming years.
In April of this year, the Northern Iowan reported on how Maucker Union staff are moving through processes to remodel the roof of the Union. While the Maucker Union staff are working with outside contractors to redesign the rooftop to be more engaging for students, what lies beneath the walkable rooftop is the root of the redesign.
As Mike Bobeldyk, the director of student involvement and event services, describes, the membrane of the roof, the part of the roof that sits between the walkable surface and the visible rooftop, has holes in it, leading to leaks. But these leaks aren’t as simple as a regular leak in a house. While these leaks in the membrane appear on one side of the Union, where students may find a bucket to catch the leak, the actual leak could be happening some feet away from where the leak is being caught by staff.
“These membranes only have a certain life expectancy to them, and those are things that we have an obligation to make sure we replace,” said Bobeldyk. “The redesign is kind of the cherry on top.” The replacement of these membranes opens up the conversation for the potential redesign of the rooftop. According to Bobeldyk, the Union has worked with outside contractors to come up with a couple different redesigns while trying to stay within the Union’s budget. The Union is funded by student fees, their budget coming directly from fees students pay to the university.
“If finances weren’t a worry, we’d want to be able to make sure it was a very welcoming space for the entire campus community, which is something we’re going to try to accomplish,” said Bobeledyk. “But will we be able to do it to what the consultants planned it out to? Most likely not, but that happens in a lot of projects.” Currently, the Union is waiting to work through their budget before they make final decisions on the rooftop redesign. When trying to stay within budget, meet student needs and be environmentally friendly, there’s more to work through than meets the eye for this large of a renovation project.
“Do we want to basically remove every single paver that you can walk on, take the membrane and insulation off, put insulation on, put a new membrane on, and put all the new pavers back the way they were? Or do we want to do something different, where maybe we don’t put the paver piece over the entire piece?” asked Bobeldyk, walking through some of the discussions being had around the renovation currently. The designing and budgeting remain in the early phases.
Bobeldyk’s main goal is to use the student dollar wisely. “I want students to understand that we are being the best stewards of student fee dollars that we can, to ensure that Maucker Union as a facility will stand in the same place for the next fifty years … we know you pay fees here, and we absolutely respect that and want to make sure we’re making the best use of those fees as possible,” said Bobeldyk.
The Union staff say they are continuing to balance the needs of the students and the budget, and are using that in their efforts to create the best possible plan for the renovation.
