Summer is a busy season for the campus maintenance department. Plant Manager Rafael Rivera and his two assistants, Ramon Contreras and Yuri Shcherbakov, completed a number of major projects on the Seminary's 12 scenic acres. Two part-time summer student employees and several outside contractors assisted in the renovations, enabling the campus to look its best when students returned for the fall term.
Notes Ted Bazil, acting associate chancellor for Systems and Operations, "With the departure of a number of graduation students in May, a good deal of work was required last summer to prepare the facilities for the large incoming class. The challenge was that we had a short window of time to complete these projects and we couldn't start them until the students left and our summer programs and seminars finished in June. We had to complete these major projects in less than two months—not only the maintenance projects but also the capital improvement ones. It takes a significant amount of concentrated time by the staff and local contractors to successfully complete this work for the beginning of the fall semester."
One of the summer projects that isn't quite finished yet promises to aid greatly in the SVOTS student focus on health and wellness. The creation of a new 1,500 sq. ft. exercise facility, housed in the former Annex Dorm, promises to provide residents of the campus easy access to a wide variety of fitness equipment. Crews are hard at work and the center should be finished by the time cooler temperatures arrive.
Ted, Rafael, and the crew's summer 2012 "To Do" list included:
- Preparation and cleaning for all the summer programs and seminars in June
- Creation of a new 1,500 sq. ft. exercise facility
- Cleaning, repair, and painting of 15 vacated apartments and building exteriors
- General cleaning and repair of all single student rooms, baths and facilities
- Deep cleaning of the kitchen and attendant rooms
- Special outdoor projects, including faculty property
- Active attention to all emergencies
- Complete renovation of 3 women's suites and bathrooms in the North Dorm
- Normal daily cleaning and maintenance of main buildings and facilities
- Renovation and preparation of a new seminar room in the Annex Dorm
- Installation of an exterior canopy on the chapel facade to preserve and protect the new mahogany exterior and icon mosaic
- Road repairs
- New refectory steps
