Photo by Alex Clark via Twitter
The underground tunnel system at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador, dubbed the “MUNnels”, has been in dire need of repairs and renovation. Students have complained about issues such as leaky roofing, dark pathways, slippery flooring, cracking walls, rusty and damaged lockers, missing or unclear signage, etc.; they have gone as far as to label certain areas of the tunnels as “accidents waiting to happen”.
In spite of all these issues, many students feel that there has been little effort by the University to renovate the tunnels and to alleviate student concerns.
The Muse reached out to Scott Hill, the Interim Director of Operations and Maintenance with Facilities Management, and Greg McDougall, Chief Risk Officer, to find out more information regarding the state of the MUNnels.
When were the MUNnels last renovated?
As can be seen in the table below, the last major renovation took place back in 2020 within the underground Residence tunnels with leak and structural repairs, alongside an upgrade around the area leading to the Main Dining Hall entrance. The table Mr. Hill provided also outlines the renovations that have taken place in the last 6 years.
| Location | Scope of Work | Year Completed | Cost |
| Underpass Tunnel | New North-side entrance structure with accessible life, leak repairs, light upgrade, new flooring, and new paint | 2016 | $676,000 |
| Locker Tunnel | HVAC system replacement, two units that supply fresh air to the tunnels were replaced. Also, ductwork and controls were upgraded | 2018 | $576,000 |
| Locker Tunnel | Ceiling and lighting upgrades. Old asbestos-containing ceiling panels were replaced with new tiles. All the lighting was replaced and upgraded. Some damaged lockers were removed, and benches were added | 2018 | $761,000 |
| Art Science Tunnel | Leak repair in two locations on the Arts to Science Tunnel | 2018 | $102,000 |
| Residence Tunnel | Leak repair and structural repair and upgrade to the tunnel near the Main Dining Hall entrance | 2020 | $680,000 |
What factors go into determining how the MUNnels are maintained and when are repairs usually scheduled?
“The leak repairs to the tunnels are a major undertaking because, in most cases you have to dig down 8 to 10 feet, repair any cracks and then waterproof the entire section of tunnel. This also includes replacing all sidewalks and pavement that was disturbed during the dig. We try to coordinate most leak repairs with other grounds work we plan in the area. In 2016, Memorial removed two old pedways and connected the chemistry building to the University Centre and Earth Sciences buildings with a new pedway at a cost about $1.6 M. These are not tunnels, but pedways are another key aspect of safe pedestrian routes around campus.
Overall, there is regular maintenance performed on the tunnels, which includes a weekly preventative maintenance work order for inspection of the tunnels that checks existing leaks, new leaks and repairs any damage to ceiling tiles. All major repairs are funded through a Capital Deferred Maintenance Program. There are currently hundreds of projects on the deferred maintenance list, which are prioritized based on criticality and the allocated funds. Currently there is over $380M worth of deferred maintenance and the program is funded at about $4M a year.”
Scott Hill, Interim Director of Facilities Management and Maintenance
“From a Health, Safety and Security perspective we look at a variety of factors and then would make recommendations to FM [Facilities Management]. For Security we look at:
1. Crime Prevention through Environmental Design: This is more of a solution for dealing with incidents, and is part of our proactive assessment. This includes lighting, access, traffic flow and population size. We also consider access control and CCTV technology to help ensure that the space is safe from crime and opportunity.
2. Reporting: When a report comes in of an unsafe condition, hazard or an incident CEP and/or EHS investigates and determines if there are safety concerns with the area. Incidents in the MUNnels are very low.
3. As part of our routine inspections the MUNnels are inspected to make sure they are safe.”
Greg McDougall, Chief Risk Officer
We have discussed how students view the underground tunnels, but what is your perspective? Do you, like the students, think that repairs are long overdue?
Hill agrees wholeheartedly that “repairs are required, but funding and balancing of priorities do not allow us to complete them as quickly as desired.”
Similarly, McDougall acknowledges that the “concerns are understandable”, but believes that most concerns are more of a “modernizing campus” issue and less of a safety one.
“As a student first university we have to focus our priorities on student experience and create a place of being on campus. The MUNnels are a big part of this. However, with limited budgets and cutbacks, are the MUNnels more a priority then teaching and learning space? Ideally this is what work around the campus master plan determines, and why feedback is so important. Everything is about priorities , especially with limited resources.”
Greg McDougall, Chief Risk Officer
What does the future look like for the MUNnels, and how does the university plan on addressing student concerns? Are there any repairs planned in the near future?
“In the current five-year plan, there is $250K proposed for leak repairs in the Education building tunnel and another $750K proposed for leaks in the various other tunnels. This is part of the five-year infrastructure plan, but each project requires approval and is based on available funding in a given year. We try to control all leaks when they are reported to our Work Control Centre or discovered during our weekly inspections. Also, during and after rain events, we complete extra inspections of areas known to present problems.”
Scott Hill, Interim Director of Facilities Management and Maintenance
So, what exactly does this information mean?
Well, let us start with what Scott Hill means by the term “deferred maintenance”. According to a January 2018 presentation given by Keith Bowden, the director of Engineering and Construction with Facilities Management at MUN, deferred maintenance is the “practice of postponing maintenance activities as repairs … in order to save costs, meet budget funding levels, or realign available budget monies”. In other words, deferred maintenance delays repairs that may be needed to meet tightening budget restrictions.
The only source of money for the Capital Deferred Maintenance Program Hill refers to comes from the Campus Renewal fees students pay each semester, which was projected to be around $7.2 million in the 2019/20 year, but according to Hill, averages to about $4 million. You do not need to be a mathematician to see that this amount is nowhere close to the $380 million worth of deferred maintenance Hill mentions. In fact, according to the same presentation by Bowden, even $7 million each year for maintenance would not be of much help, as the conditions of campus facilities and services will continue to worsen over time. For more information on deferred maintenance and how facility conditions are evaluated, check out the presentation page.
Though it seems that most repairs for the MUNnels will not occur anytime soon, crucial ones, such as leaks and leak damage, are planned to take place under the current 5-year plan Scott Hill referred to, with a budget of $1 million.
The issues with the MUNnels just further highlight the substantial repercussions associated with budget cuts by the provincial government and other infrastructure concerns on campus, as well as how the MUNL administration is currently spending the money that it does have.
While this is an ongoing issue with multiple factors that affect how the MUNnels are maintained, other student concerns can be reported on the school’s MUN Safe app, which can be downloaded on both IOS App Store and the Play Store. Through the ‘Report’ feature on the app, students can take photos of damages that need to be repaired and communicate them to the school.
“I ask them to report these concerns through MUNsafe so we can look into them. Because statistically we don’t see a lot of reports in the MUNnels. We need concerns to be reported
“Reports that are submitted to MunSafe are analyzed and presented to the Board of Regents and the University Health and Safety Committee for aggregation and completeness so that we can track total risk for the University as part of our Enterprise Risk Management Framework.
“This is the best way to submit reports of unsafe conditions. Depending on the urgency of the report it may be addressed right away (urgent safety issues), or it may take 12-72 hours (this depends on numbers of reports, and the risk it poses to the university). We typically will respond back to the individual within a week. Follow up is important, and we all have a shared responsibility for safety. With a 4.1 million sq ft of campus (St. John’s) it is impossible for us to be everywhere, and this is why we rely heavily on reporting. Every report is treated seriously, and investigated.”
Greg McDougall, Chief Risk Officer
Students can also contact Work Control at 864-7600 or at facman@mun.ca to report leaks and other maintenance issues across campus.