Half of U of M buildings in poor condition, audit finds

The University of Manitoba is planning to tear down its largest library and require Indigenous architects be at the forefront of designing a new site, as well as all future campus construction projects.

Manitoba’s largest post-secondary institute released an audit of its facilities and building priorities Tuesday as part of a new 30-year capital plan.

The No. 1 project is a student hub on the Fort Garry campus that will replace the “sinking” Elizabeth Dafoe Library and house study spaces and classrooms.

U of M administration is eyeing a surface parking lot behind the Fletcher Argue Building that is currently used by contractors for a new site.

The existing library, which was built nearly 75 years ago, will be razed and transformed into a communal green space when the new facility is open, blueprints show.

The changes will create “a more connected, people-centered campus core,” according to U of M’s plan, which does not include an estimated cost or opening timeline.

“Not a lot of people realize how much capital infrastructure the University of Manitoba is responsible for,” Raman Dhaliwal, associate vice-president, administration, told a crowd gathered on the campus in south Winnipeg to hear about the plan and view early renderings.

“We have 155 buildings, over 600 acres of land. We’re responsible for our roads, our electrical grid and stabilizing our riverbank.”

The conference room heard that roughly $15 million of $90 million spent on capital projects every year is for deferred maintenance.

The backlog of repairs and renovations necessary to ensure facilities are in working order is estimated at $600 million. The Elizabeth Dafoe Library accounts for about $58 million of that sum.

Regular power failures and floods are symptoms of aging infrastructure, Dhaliwal said, adding that a new and more comprehensive approach to planning is required to avoid further deterioration and disruption.

She noted last year’s emergency shutdown of the Joyce Fromson Pool, which remains closed owing to safety concerns and related renovations, as one example of the fallout of putting off maintenance.

Dhaliwal touted the university’s recent decision to “step back.” As part of this process, her team was tasked with visiting every building to investigate its physical condition and determine which ones aren’t worth preserving over the long term.

The new database will help U of M communicate its needs to potential funders, she said.

The 18-month audit concluded about half of U of M facilities are in poor condition. Multiple sections of Elizabeth Dafoe, as well as the Dairy Science Building and Mary Speechly Hall were found to be in “critical” condition.

University president Michael Benarroch called those results “sobering.”

“We are, in fact, spending tens of millions of dollars on capital every single year, but we never seem to catch up to our deferred maintenance and our needs,” Benarroch said.

U of M’s leader said the school has begun considering its capital needs in a more comprehensive way so big projects don’t operate in isolation and take into account all of the university’s needs.

Prabhnoor Singh, president of the undergraduate students’ union, said he often hears from peers with concerns about how hard it is to find a study space on campus.

Students need more quiet places to do their homework, as well as event spaces for gatherings of all kinds, Singh said, adding he’s hopeful a modern library will address those concerns.

The university is finalizing a request for proposal before the end of the month to kick-start consultations on what a new library should look like.

It will seek input on a new agriculture laboratory building and retrofit of the Ellis Building at the same time.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

U of M facilities conditions