(LEX 18) — The weekend before classes started at Eastern Kentucky University this semester, Clay Hall was flooded. Students accidentally damaged the emergency sprinkler system, resulting in a majority of residents being forced to move into a different dorm for the semester.
“We can’t control what happens to us, but we can control how we react, how we respond, and how we can take a situation and ultimately make it better,” says Bryan Makinen, the chief campus operations officer.
Makinen tells me the school finished its demolition process on Wednesday and the whole process has cost the school around $525,000 so far.
When the dorm room is 100% complete, EKU expects the bill to be around $3 million dollars.
While many organizations and individuals would stress and fret about the financial burden this situation caused, Makinen is looking at this incident as an opportunity.
“With any situation that happens, we get the opportunity to have a refresh,” Makinen said. The real question that has stayed at the forefront of his mind is: “How can we turn this situation, into a benefit for our students?”
As a result, the school hopes to use this as an opportunity to change its dorm layouts. Dorms will still include the essentials, like a desk, office chair, and cabinets. But EKU hopes to make them mobile so students can rearrange their space to their liking.
“I’m kind of excited to see what all they renovate with,” said Brett Davis, a first-year student. “I feel like the school and the administration did the best they could with the hand they were dealt.”
The aspiring pilot is one of about 150 students allowed to continue living in Clay Hall while around 220 of his peers were forced to relocate.
While Makinen and EKU do not know when this dorm is going to be finished, their main priority is getting the job done correctly, not quickly.
