Over the past decade, the University’s campus has seen facility upgrades.  The upgrades were funded by a bond program approved by voters in 2000.  However, buildings are still in disrepair.  The facilities are in line to be renovated or replaced, but lack of funding has put the projects on hold. 

Gardner Hall, which houses the entomology, plant pathology and plant biology departments, is one building that the University hopes to upgrade in the future.  Until funds are found, these departments are limited by the old building.

James Harper, professor emeritus in the department of entomology and former head of the department, expressed his concerns about the condition of Gardner Hall.

“We are working in facilities that are antiquated and generally running into problems with utilities: air conditioning problems, heating and cooling problems, humidity problems,” Harper said.  “They are real problems.  They make it very difficult to conduct cutting edge research without spending a lot of extra resources to keep those types of facilities going that really ought to be devoted to the research itself.”

The size and layout of the building are also concerns, Harper said.

“It was built … in the late fifties.  Back then, we were not doing genomics research, genetic, molecular biology and that sort of thing that requires the kind of electrical needs and equipment needs that we have today,” Harper said.  “The departments that are in here have had to expand out of this building, because we are totally overcrowded.”

In consideration of the age and condition of the building, Harper gave his opinion about the condition of Gardner Hall.

“I agree with some of my fellow faculty members in that it ought to be bulldozed,” Harper said.  “The building is so old and has an infrastructure that does not lend itself to being renovated for a first class research building, and a lot of the work that is done in this building is research.”

According to an Oct. 8 News & Observer report, UNC President Erskine Bowles announced Public Universities should focus on repairing their existing buildings before pushing for new ones. The report also showed the UNC System would need $2.1 billion this year from the state to adequately meet the system’s renovation needs.

Clyde Sorenson, a professor of entomology, described issues with humidity that he faces while working in Gardner Hall.

“I’ve got a dehumidifier running and an air conditioner running at the same time, trying to keep the humidity down in this office so stuff doesn’t mold,” Sorenson said.  “It hasn’t compromised my ability to teach, but it is kind of aggravating to deal with the humidity issues.” 

Bob Blinn, collection manager of the insect collection, described the space restrictions in Gardner Hall.

“Our biggest problem here is space.  We out grew this space twenty years ago.  We’ve gotten more room for the collection, over the years, as it became available in the building.  It is getting to where there is not more room for anything in the building,” Blinn said.

Blinn also commented on the difficulty of controlling humidity in the building. High humidity could potentially harm the collection.

“You want to keep a low humidity, which in the South can be difficult. Sometimes they break, but do you go without air conditioning? No, not really,” Blinn said. “The guys that work on the building are great.  They do all that they can do, but it is an old building.”

Kevin MacNaughton, associate vice chancellor for facilities, explained the University’s plans for Gardner Hall.

“What we will do is build a new plant science building, and that will probably be on Centennial Campus; that is what we currently have on our capital plan, and then we will renovate Gardner Hall as an office or classroom building,” MacNaughton said.

Harper, however, is unoptimistic about the timeline for that project. 

“We just don’t see the funds coming along to allow that kind of construction anytime soon.  It may be another generation of faculty before we see any improvements in the situation,” Harper said. 

MacNaughton said efforts have been made to keep Gardner in repair. 

“We have done what we can to try to minimize the mold and things like that. We have also … (made) investments that are logical for a five-to-ten-year term,” MacNaughton said. “But, we are not making investments for something that has a useful life of ten to fifteen years, because we hope to have the building completely renovated in that time frame.”

Although the University faces facility issues, MacNaughton acknowledged how the bond program from 2000 helped the University.

“If the bond program hadn’t happened, we would certainly be in over a billion dollars of deferred maintenance today.  It had a tremendous effect on reducing that deferred maintenance backlog, but we still have remaining these other buildings,” MacNaughton said. 

This backlog stems from the design of the bond program, which was not designed to fund a full renovation of the university system.

“When the bond program was approved it constituted the first [sixty percent] of the capital plan.  When the bond program was approved, there was always a hope that we would get the second bond program that would take care of the last [forty percent], which includes buildings like Gardner [Hall],” MacNaughton said. “Because of the state’s fiscal situation, as the bond program completed in the spring of ’09, we did not see that happen.”