Seeping groundwater. Cracked and bulging walls. Outdated equipment and facilities not designed for such long-term use.
Des Moines Area Community College Board of Trustees members got a firsthand look at that this week as they toured buildings on the Ankeny campus that may be renovated or demolished under the master plan for the college’s new facilities.
During its meeting, the Board discussed two capital projects identified as priorities in the Facilities Master Plan. The projects include programs that require larger, more modern facilities.
DMACC President Rob Denson said in an interview that the college has not focused on renovations or demolition of these buildings to date because there have been other needs across campus and limited funds available. Faculty and staff have done a lot to keep the buildings usable, he said.
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“We want to get the most out of each of our facilities, and we basically don’t move into a new facility and tear something down until we reach end of life,” Denson said.
Dental programs find a new home
The community college’s dental assistant and hygienist training programs were at risk of losing their accreditation last fall due to concerns about the programs’ facilities and other areas. The programs were granted full accreditation in February with the requirement to build new, compliant facilities.
This is included in the facilities master plan, with an area on campus already selected and the college looking for a construction management company.
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Bill LaTour, DMACC’s vice president of operations, said at the meeting that the board should have the opportunity to approve a recommended construction manager at its October meeting. After that, staff could begin planning, developing and compiling all necessary construction documents. The schedule calls for construction to begin in September 2025 and be completed in summer 2027. The total estimated cost is $17 million.
The new 22,000-square-foot clinic will replace the tennis, basketball and beach volleyball courts on the Ankeny campus and will feature existing parking and better traffic flow for patients, Denson said.
The building that currently houses the dental programs will not be demolished, Denson said, because it is used by other programs and is in “pretty good shape.”
A new building for the diesel and construction industry
Planning is also set to begin on a new craft building that will house the college’s diesel programs, fire protection, HVAC training and construction trades, among other things. LaTour said they hope to speed up the construction process, which would be similar to the dental building, to tackle both at the same time.
The estimated cost of the project is $34 million and will cover 5,190 square meters and replace the current 2,840 square meter building.
Money for the projects could come from the college’s operating fund, but funding for the dental building could also be supplemented by donations or other sources, Denson said.
Chairman Joe Pugel asked that the possibility of postponing construction of the new diesel building be explored to determine whether there would be long-term cost savings in keeping the current facilities in operation for another year or two.
Jenny Foster, dean of construction, transportation/engineering and manufacturing, said the diesel programs are “living on borrowed time” in their current state.
“Is the building functional? Yes. Can students take classes there? Yes,” Foster said. “But anything could happen at any time and we’d be in big trouble.”
LaTour said in an interview that the buildings slated for demolition, built in 1969 and 1970, were not designed to last 50 years. While touring Building 14, the oldest on campus, Foster and Joe Baxter, director of engineering and construction services, pointed out areas in the buildings where cracks had formed in the walls and water was seeping from the ground, causing students and faculty to occasionally have to walk through water in the hallways.
They don’t have sprinkler systems but still have the original electrical system and, despite repair efforts, still lose heat in the winter, Baxter said. Repairs and replacements would cost between hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars.
Space is also becoming scarce for the programs housed in the building: motors and equipment are located outside in the hallway due to lack of space.
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In buildings 15 through 20, which form a connected semicircle of classrooms, offices and labs, programs have expanded to occupy empty spaces left by others moving to new premises. Baxter said they were “really built as temporary buildings” and have sagging walls, problems with standing water and a permanent blockage in one of the sewer lines.
With programs needing more space and buildings long past their prime, Baxter said they have reached a point where they must decide whether to make repairs to keep the buildings in use a little longer or to take more drastic measures.
“I think we’re at the threshold,” Baxter said. “We can get by for another one to three years, and then in three years we’ll have to replace the roof. So we’re at the end of the question: ‘Okay, do we start putting money into this? Or do we start over?'”
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