Cartwright Center will be Remodeled?

"Building inspection is about ‘life issues,'" Dave Reinhardt, the chief inspector of La Crosse says,"the building inspectors of La Crosse regulate and check the lighting, heating, ventilation, and exits of a building." Cartwright Center at the University of Wisconsin—La Crosse is probably going to be remodeled in the following years because of its major problems on heating and ventilation.

Larry J. Ringgenberg, the Director of University Centers at UW-L, explains the reasons, "it is old and problematic. We have only repainted the inside walls for several times since it's built up. We also repaired the roof and the floor because the walls got stain. But we have never dealt with the inside mechanical systems such as water drain/pipes, heat, and air conditioning."

It was built in 1959 and has a 52-year history. As a Student Center, it includes dining and eating locations, TV and reading lounges, a computer lab with copy machines, Commuter Student Lounge, student organization offices and resources, the Leadership and Involvement Center, Pride Center, and meeting rooms. Also, it is the home to the University Bookstore and Textbook Services. Many important and big events such as international banquet and academic lectures are held in Vahalla, the biggest meeting room in this building.

People inside Cartwright for a long time always have weird experiences. "I sometimes feel really hot, but sometimes I feel frozen staying here," says Terry while working at the Cyber coffee shop located in Cartwright Center for a long time. Many students may share these feelings. One student who always dines there says, "Once I went into this building and felt so hot. After I had studied there for couples of hours, I got a cold." People commonly assume it is common because if human beings don't move they will feel cold, but this student responds that, "I have never experienced it in the Murphy Library or other academic buildings.

Ringgenberg explains, the heating and ventilation always cannot work well especially in winter. Those pipes used to transfer heating and help ventilation are too old to function well.

Also, he points out another problem of water pipes in this building. "If there is downpour, the basement is always flooding because the pipes cannot drain the water quickly. Seldom people know about it because it always happens over summer vacation. This summer, the indoor flooding happened 4 or 5 times."

Inspector Reinhardt suggests a building could be remodeled with its inefficient gas, water, and electricity systems. "If cost to repair is over 50% value of building, we then issue to rehabilitate the building," he says.

People may expect this center to be rebuilt to a huge Student Center.  Ringgenberg responds, "The funding of non-academic building is from students' tuitions and fees. It will cost a lot to rebuild this center, and it is unworthy it. So we might not do that; instead, we focus on repairing the inside mechanical systems."