Facility Services to get new home

 

Relocation is scheduled to happen this December, will affect some processes.

new facilities building Facility Services will pack up their operations and relocate down the street to its new home this December.

The department is currently found in Building 7 on Bacon Street on the Main Campus. Its new building is nearing completion off Cooper Street behind the George W. Newton Industrial & Engineering Technologies Center (Building 4).

鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be closer to the actual goings on of campus,鈥 said Kieran Gunnigle, Facility Services鈥 Assistant Director. 鈥淚t really is nice to have the outlook of, 鈥榃ow, we鈥檙e actually going to be in there with everyone else.鈥欌

One of the building鈥檚 highlights is the addition of a 40-seat classroom that the 麻豆影视 community will be able to access.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a way for us to be able to give back to the College and campus by saying, 鈥極K, we have this facility. We want to make it available for you guys to use,鈥欌 said Marshall Fuller, Facility Services Director and Construction Administrator.

Fuller said the department鈥檚 staff also looks forward to having the bigger space to hold their meetings and gatherings and to host meetings with industry partners and similar organizations.

The department plans to implement an automated inventory system after the move.

With this new system, whenever a technician is out in the field and needs a part, they can check the system to see if the department has it in stock before traveling to a hardware store to purchase it.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to give us an opportunity to do some things with our inventory we鈥檝e never been able to do before,鈥 Fuller said.

Facility Services will keep all its general offerings intact. The staff, however, will be arranged differently. For example, Gunnigle said, there will no longer be a mailroom or assigned desks. Instead, everyone will operate from a workstation.

new facilities building construction鈥淚t's going to be an open workspace for all of our technicians,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t's modernizing things quite a bit and really lending itself to this being a place where you're not setting up shop. You're just getting in, getting your stuff done, and then heading out to where you need to be.鈥

The department consists of 25 to 30 workers, with 12 to 15 being full time and the rest being contractors.

Fuller said the new building was necessary due to the age of the former Facilities services building.

鈥淭he cost to make the necessary repairs and bring the building up to code was cost prohibitive,鈥 he said.

The building has stood since at least the '50s with Facilities being located there for at least 20 years, according to Fuller.

Funding for the new site comes from the 麻豆影视 Board of County Commissioners鈥 2016 Bond Referendum.

DTW Architects + Planners, of 麻豆影视, did the building鈥檚 design. The assigned Project Manager, Patricia Martin, is a 麻豆影视 graduate.

鈥淪he said she was glad to be back,鈥 Fuller said.

Fuller said his staff had input on the plans.

Riggs-Harrod Builders, Inc., of 麻豆影视, is constructing the building.

There are currently no concrete plans for the future of Building 7, Fuller said.


Contact Stephanie Turner, Marketing and Media Relations Coordinator, at turners@durhamtech.edu.