Friday Focus: Improving UAF through Facilities Services

June 7, 2024

— By Cameron Wohlford, UAF Facilities Services Division of Design and Construction director

Working at UAF, building new facilities, and making major improvements and repairs, is the coolest job ever. After two years of planning, some good luck with the weather, and the teamwork of many skilled workers,  this outage allowed UAF Facilities Services to take the steam system down (impacting heat and hot water) to execute several critical improvements. This was the longest heating and hot water outage we have ever executed. The work we accomplished in those two weeks now allows us to systematically update the steam piping system without campus-wide outages. While the snowfall on the first day did have us making some quick adjustments, the amazing resilience and grace of our Nanook community kept our momentum moving forward, pushing this first critical phase of repairs to be completed on time. We are happy to report all systems are up and running again, and future outages are likely to be shortened as a result of this work. 

This type of work, especially on systems and buildings that our UAF community relies on, requires a lot of planning and precision to execute. At a larger scale, the renovations and modernization work in Rasmuson Library and Moore and Bartlett Hall stretched our capacity to continue to deliver housing and library services, while completing extremely critical construction work. Both projects are on track to wrap up this summer!

The UAF Student Success Center in the Rasmuson Library will provide a vibrant, cheerful space for tutoring, advising, testing, and self-study. It will feature an open student study area with new exterior windows to connect to the outdoors. The new furniture will be flexible to encourage collaboration. The space aims to be a useful, attractive, and inclusive area for students, filled with color and providing increased natural light by using high open spaces. Creating welcoming and service-oriented spaces helps student retention and provides an atmosphere that attracts students to campus where they can get the support they need to make progress toward a degree.  Additionally, there will be a family study room for students who are raising families while pursuing their education.

Completion of the SSC is slated for fall 2024, so look for more information on the opening plans over the summer. In addition, as part of the space backfill work as groups move out of Gruening to relocate to the SSC, this summer, carpet and paint will be refreshed on the 6th and 8th floors of Gruening, and new furniture will be added to accommodate a shift of departments within the College of Liberal Arts. This helps UAF add vibrancy to previously dated spaces and makes for more efficient use of space so departments that work together can be co-located.

When I lived on campus (many years ago), I called Moore Hall home. Many of my friends, some currently working on the Troth Yeddha’ campus, lived in Moore and Bartlett and greatly enjoyed the rich and diverse community a large residence hall provides. When I visited Moore Hall just before renovations started in May of last year, the space was exactly as I remembered it 30 years prior. Not exactly the model for modernizing the student experience. We have received abundant feedback about the outdated facilities, from the plumbers constantly repairing the pipes to the students, both present and past, urging UAF to modernize the restrooms and dormitory rooms. While it took some time to fund the project (it was funded by the State Capital Budget in FY23), construction got underway last year. This week, we started moving furniture back into Bartlett Hall in preparation for the fall reopening!

The updated residence halls have all-new restrooms on each floor, designed around the idea of community and inclusivity while ensuring privacy and safety. The restrooms have a completely new layout and every floor is provided with at least one shower room that is fully accessible. The laundry facilities were also updated and in Bartlett Hall, moved out of the basement to the ground floor, also improving accessibility access. All 322 rooms have new flooring, lighting, and furniture.

Later this summer, construction activities will shift to the UA Museum of the North where a new planetarium will be built. The planetarium is a collaboration between the UA Museum of the North and the Geophysical Institute. Given the university’s unique position and expertise in the aurora and geophysics, a planetarium will add a creative new way to bring research and educational programming to the community. Project funding was provided through a generous philanthropic gift. The audio-video system, including the viewing dome, will be purchased through a research and community impact grant. The new planetarium addition, located to the west of the current museum building, is scheduled to open in the fall of 2025.

While the summer of 2024 will be busy, one additional project has drawn a lot of attention and excitement in our office, and beyond. Thanks to a generous gift from Usibelli Coal Mine, a world-class cross-country ski trail will be constructed between the Patty Center and the Butrovich Building, featuring a 1.5km and 2.5km trail for NCAA-sanctioned Nordic skiing race events. The new trails will be open to the public for Nordic skiing when not in use for practices or races. Our team is working with a highly qualified trail designer and builder to construct the course starting in early June through August. I really do have the coolest job ever.

Friday Focus is a column written by a different member of UAF's leadership team every week. On occasion, a guest writer is invited to contribute a column.