RECREATION SERVICES

4 | Lied Rec | Iowa State Daily Tuesday, August 17, 2010

By Jake.Lovett@iowastatedaily.com

Article as published on Flood Day 3, Aug. 13Numerous workers were inside Lied Recreation Athletic Cen-

ter on Friday morning, cleaning up floodwaters and other damage caused by flooding earlier in the week.

Mike Giles, director of Recreation Services since June 1, has been working with crews from ServiceMaster since Thursday morning recovering from the estimated 18-24 inches of water that was inside the building.

“Pretty much, the entire first floor has been compromised,” Giles said.

Giles said all the wooden racquet ball courts and carpeting in Recreation Services offices have been destroyed and need replac-ing.

“At some point, those will have to come out and go back in,” he said.

Nearly all of the equipment storage areas on the first floor will likely need repaired or replaced in the coming weeks, as well.

Meanwhile, the director did not yet know the extent of the dam-age done to Lied’s indoor track or artificial turf.

“We’ve lost little things to big things,” Giles said. “It’s not really a matter at this point to be able to pinpoint specifics.”

Giles said that all sandbagging efforts done at Lied were “com-pletely ineffective,” as some areas outside the building had water levels well above the height of the sandbags.

There was damage to the roll-up door going onto the track, as water got behind the sandbags and pressure on the door “basically pushed the door in.”

Giles said he thought the damage to the door was the main breach into the building, but also indicated there was water “bub-bling up” from the sub-structure of the building.

“It wasn’t just a matter of the water coming, it was coming from all around,” Giles said.

Recreation Service staff members were first inside the build-ing between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Wednesday, and then service crews were inside to begin cleanup Thursday morning.

Thursday, crews opened doors to the building and allowed wa-ter to flow out, meaning there has been no pumping of water as has been done at Hilton Coliseum.

Giles said Recreation Services hopes to have Lied open early next week, but first must evaluate safety of students — i.e., mold and bacteria in the building — before giving students access to the third floor “as quickly as possible.”

“With us moving forward and students coming back to campus, our goal is to give [students] access in here as soon as possible,” Giles said.

Giles said Beyer Hall received no damage in the storm and will be open again Monday, but access to the building will be limited, as there will be no access to locker rooms or showers. The pool inside Beyer Hall will also be closed for the time being.

Further extensive damage has been suffered on the outdoor intramural fields, such as the ones next to Maple-Willow-Larch — still completely underwater as of Friday morning — and the south-west fields near Jack Trice Stadium.

The southwest fields are now what Giles described as “debris fields,” as the areas not submerged in water are littered with por-table toilets and other debris that drifted to the fields.

Recreation Services began working with the university on in-surance claims to help finance repair and recovery for damaged facilities.

Giles said the department will begin meeting with adjusters over the next few days to determine the extent of the damage.

Students who would like to exercise during the time Lied is closed might have another option.

Brett Halverson, manager of Ames Racquet and Fitness on S. 17th Street, said the clubs will allow anyone with access to Lied to use their facilities for free until Lied is once again operational.

“We know that this is a stressful time for a lot of people and we believe in exercise and health and fitness, and we think this is the right thing to do,” Halverson said.

Students, staff and faculty who have access to Lied can come into any one of the three Ames offices to get a temporary pass that is good until Lied’s facilities are up and running.

Despite all of the rainfall, construction is still ongoing at State Gym. Giles said there have been delays on the site due to the high amounts of rainfall in Ames this summer, but the project is still on track to be completed in early fall of 2011.

The State Gym project is entirely independent from flood re-covery efforts, so there should be no delays caused at State Gym.

“Without any type of major catastrophe that we have no control over, I see no initial impact on the continuation of construction,” Giles said.

Lied cleanup beginsWater flooded the Maple-Willow-Larch and Lied Recreation Athletic Center parking lots and the nearby street Wednesday. Sandbags were put up to prevent further water damage outside Lied, and the facility opened its doors again Monday. Photo: Rebekka Brown/Iowa State Daily

ServiceMaster cleanup crews help to remove the water from the indoor track Friday, Aug. 13 at Lied Recreation Athletic Center. Many in-season teams are directly impacted by the water damage at Lied and will be forced to find other facilities to hold practices. Photo: Rebekka Brown/Iowa State Daily

ServiceMaster cleanup crews help to remove the water from the indoor track Friday, Aug. 14 at Lied Recreation Athletic Center. Lied was open for use Monday, with limited access. Photo: Rebekka Brown/Iowa State Daily

Cleanup crews use heavy equipment to help remove mud from the parking lots Friday, Aug. 13 at Lied Recreation Athletic Center. Photo: Rebekka Brown/Iowa State Daily