Quandt Gymnasium Affected by Leak

A portion of the Quandt Fieldhouse was rendered useless when a pipe burst in a nearby wall and flooded part of the floor at the end of the semester.

A faucet in a heated area froze over, and when it thawed, 15 gallons of water poured onto the court.

Fortunately, the problem was tended to almost immediately.

Fans were set around the spill while facility services kept on eye on it, but when the floor started to warp, action was taken. A floor specialist was called and the damage was assessed.

“Our focus was how we could save our main court,” said Tony Bouressa, HEC facilities director. “They ended up cutting a line in the floor that was drastic, but stopped the morphing to the rest of the gym and saved three quarters of our court.”

Bouressa complimented facility services on a job well done.

Facility services sanded the floor so the finish did not trap moisture. An extraction tent was set up over the area in effort to extract the moisture, but that was discontinued due to cost.

Fortunately, the men’s basketball games were not affected damage to the floor as it did not reach the main court.

“Although it hasn’t affected us on game days, practice is limited,” Bouressa said. “I’m sure they are missing those two hoops.”

However, intramurals have been affected with the loss of a court.

“This is the worst time of year for intramurals because everyone is inside,” said Ed Richmond, coordinator of campus activities and recreation. “With home basketball games and other sports practicing inside, we can’t use some areas until later.”

Basketball, volleyball and trench ball are all affected once a court in the Quandt is down.

Utilizing the space is difficult when different athletic teams and club sports along with intramurals all rely on the same location. Some teams can only practice in the Multi Activity Center.

“We do the best with the space we have,” Richmond said. “We play in the gym opposite of the varsity games on the nights they play, and then, when we can, we move into a space that works for us that might not work for a club sport.”

There were a few teams that opted not to play this semester due to game times as late as 11 p.m.

“We shifted a lot of games around and have some people playing later,” Richmond said. “It presents a challenge with home games and other sports, but we make it work.”

The moisture levels in the floor are still twice as high as they should be, and until those moisture levels go down, facility services cannot refinish the floor.

Bouressa said he would like to try and redo the entire floor. The floor is more than 30 years old and while it is well-constructed, the technology is old and can be tough on athletes’ knees.

However, the cost of engineering a new floor would be expensive and would not be ready until next semester.

The temporary fix depends on cost and the floor moisture level in May.

“I want to take this challenge and flip it into a positive thing,” Bouressa said. “My goal is to replace the whole floor.”

At a bare minimum, the damaged section will be fully replaced heading into the 2014-2015 academic year.

 

Rebecca Vosters

Reporter

rvost360@uwsp.edu