Like the leaks in its tunnels, hope springs eternal for MUN’s crumbling infrastructure

I don’t even notice them anymore.

Thin plastic hoses, draping down from the ceilings in Memorial University’s network of tunnels, eventually finding their way to buckets. They collect water that otherwise would — and indeed very much did before — drip to the floor, making for dangerous pools.

The hoses, often poking through large tarps, have long been a symbol of decay at Newfoundland and Labrador’s only university, and how its main campus in St. John’s — the oldest buildings formally opened in 1961 — has been worse for wear.

It looks like some things are finally moving on repairing tunnels, as well as other parts of MUN’s crumbling infrastructure.

After getting its knuckles rapped in a report a year ago from Auditor General Denise Hanrahan, the university is going through a list of things that need to be fixed, with a plan to spend about $70 million over eight years. Hanrahan had found that money that was earmarked through a campus fee to fix absestos and leaks in the tunnels went instead to things like laptop computers for staff.

So, the university now has some catching up to do. Here are some details from a recent CBC report by my former colleague Jenna Head:

As of March 2024, MUN carries $481 million in deferred maintenance liabilities altogether.

The eight-year program will address maintenance needs at the top of that list.

“We are going to demolish Coughlan College. We are going to waterproof and do some aesthetic work on our tunnels. We are constructing a new primary data centre on campus. We have an elevator program for modernization, and then a little later in the program, we’re going to look at some building envelope work,” [associate vice-president Rayna] Luther said.

Coughlan College is one of the former denominational residences on the north side of the campus. It’s already been partly closed for a decade.

The tunnels will take a while to fix. I’ve walked them countless times over the years. Well before I started as an undergraduate in 1982, I knew the layout well, as both my parents worked on campus and as a kid I would sometimes walk to their offices after school. As a young swimmer, I used the tunnels to take the nip out of the cold when heading home with wet hair.

Years later — after they came to be known as the “Munnels,” arr arr — I frequenty walked the tunnels, stairs and pedways on campus as a year-round way of getting in my steps during lunch breaks at nearby CBC. I had a variety of routes, and could stay indoors for 45 minutes. And, again, on wicked mornings or evenings, I’d save my face some grief by walking underground.

I’m not over there so much anymore (I’ve been looking some things up at the library, etc.,) but I appreciate having a network of shortcuts for getting around. At the very least, students and staff should be able to count on dry floors and ceilings and walls devoid of asbestos.

Here is Jenna Head’s video report from last week.