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First appeared Jan. 30, 2003
Basic design flaws appear to be behind many of the problems still plaguing students living in the recently completed New Residence Complex on the hilltop.
University of Maine students began moving into the complex this winter.
The newly constructed complex has had 11 fire alarms within the past 32 days. The causes of two of the last three fire alarms have been cooking related. Of the eight that went off before the weekend of Jan. 24-26, four were malfunctions of the fire alarms, said Orono Fire Chief Lorin LeCleire.
“The problem is the hoods over the stoves do not blow to the outside of the building and filters the smoke back into the room and those factors contribute to the problem, ” LeCleire said.
The fire alarms in most of the NRC suites are located either directly above or within a two-foot radius of the stove and microwave.
“The other day I asked the state office for an opinion and the first option from them [to fix the alarms] was to go to the electric shop and desensitize the alarms which would adjust sensitivity so it won’t go off like it readily would,” LeCleire said. “The other option the university could do is put up a single station smoke detector, which are located in all the residence halls on campus. A single station is one that goes off by itself and does not trip the whole building alarm. That is a fallback plan and the disadvantage is if there is a fire, the building alarm will not trip.”
Brian Emmons, a second-year construction technology major who recently moved into NRC, also attributes the frequent alarms to a design flaw.
“New buildings are going to have problems without a doubt, but I think the design with the fire alarm right above the kitchen, I don’t know if I would have done that myself,” Emmons said.
Water temperature and other problems have also plagued the residents of NRC.
“It was in the morning around 9:30 and it was before school started and the water was just cold,” Eileen Wacthl, a firrst-year art major, said.
Third-year microbiology major Nicholas Stasulis said he found problems in his suiteas well.
“We have some ants crawling around the bathroom, and I think I saw a spot where they might be coming from,” Stasulis said. “There’s lots of ice that has been building up on the windows, and I think the hot water problem is something that is common.”
The window frames are constructed of stainless steel. The likely cause of the ice buildup is the mixture of freezing air around the frames and an influx of warm air from the floors, Stastulis said.
The 54,000-square-foot residence hall was constructed by the Granger Northern company out of Portland in August of 2001, and has a capacity of 197 students in apartment-style living.
Andrew Matthews, director of Housing Services, said he is working to correct the problems.
