College replaces Mauck Hall's eaves
Marieke van der Vaart
Issue date: 11/6/08 Section: News
Mauck Hall's recent bat and insect problems should end within two weeks, when construction workers finish replacing the dorm's rotting wooden eaves with new polyurethane eaves, Vice President of Administration Rich Péwé said.
Mauck House Director Nancy Swope, a junior, said in an e-mail to The Collegian that lately several kinds of insects have entered the building through rotting wood on various parts of its surface.
"Beetles, bats, hornets and a few other small critters have been coming in through window openings, and cracks around the eaves," she said.
Sophmore Rachel Ogden's room particularly attracts beetle-like insects with a death wish.
"They go into my lamp and die. And they die really noisily. I'll be sitting there listening to their death throes for five minutes," she said. "One even came back to life three days later in my lamp."
Ogden says the last few weeks have seen a decline in bug population in Mauck. But she doesn't know whether the drop in numbers is a result of the renovations or the cold weather.
Péwé said years of changing weather and general wear have made the wooden eaves soft and spongy. Bees, insects and even mice are able to burrow into it, making for unpleasant encounters for residents and compromised architectural integrity, he said.
Thus, since last Wednesday, workmen have been tearing down the old eaves and replacing them with long-lasting polyurethane material, called Fypon.
Péwé said such renovations are normal for a building as old as Mauck.
"We couldn't just patch those holes, we had to completely replace the boards. They were [part] of the original building," he said.
The oldest dormitory on campus, Mauck Hall was built in 1927, to honor the wife of then-college president, Joseph William Mauck.
The building's age explains its outdated architecture. The wooden eaves are one example. The pipes built into the walls and ceilings are another.
Péwé said the work needs finish before bad weather sets in.
He also said repairs won't be cheap. After the eaves are replaced, he expects the windows will require work, too.
"The great lines and wonderful architecture of [Mauck] are worth preserving," he said. "But investment to bring it back to today's standards is sometimes as costly as doing something new."
Mauck House Director Nancy Swope, a junior, said in an e-mail to The Collegian that lately several kinds of insects have entered the building through rotting wood on various parts of its surface.
"Beetles, bats, hornets and a few other small critters have been coming in through window openings, and cracks around the eaves," she said.
Sophmore Rachel Ogden's room particularly attracts beetle-like insects with a death wish.
"They go into my lamp and die. And they die really noisily. I'll be sitting there listening to their death throes for five minutes," she said. "One even came back to life three days later in my lamp."
Ogden says the last few weeks have seen a decline in bug population in Mauck. But she doesn't know whether the drop in numbers is a result of the renovations or the cold weather.
Péwé said years of changing weather and general wear have made the wooden eaves soft and spongy. Bees, insects and even mice are able to burrow into it, making for unpleasant encounters for residents and compromised architectural integrity, he said.
Thus, since last Wednesday, workmen have been tearing down the old eaves and replacing them with long-lasting polyurethane material, called Fypon.
Péwé said such renovations are normal for a building as old as Mauck.
"We couldn't just patch those holes, we had to completely replace the boards. They were [part] of the original building," he said.
The oldest dormitory on campus, Mauck Hall was built in 1927, to honor the wife of then-college president, Joseph William Mauck.
The building's age explains its outdated architecture. The wooden eaves are one example. The pipes built into the walls and ceilings are another.
Péwé said the work needs finish before bad weather sets in.
He also said repairs won't be cheap. After the eaves are replaced, he expects the windows will require work, too.
"The great lines and wonderful architecture of [Mauck] are worth preserving," he said. "But investment to bring it back to today's standards is sometimes as costly as doing something new."
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