Courtside may face renovations in fall
By Sonali Kohli
April 11, 2010 9:17 p.m.
Renovations may begin on the bathrooms in Courtside residence hall during August because of problems with moisture in the flooring.
The project would aim to replace the flooring, shower pads, walls and cabinets of each of the 212 bathrooms in Courtside, said Alfred Nam, director of the rooms division of UCLA Housing and Hospitality.
If the project is approved, each of the eight houses in Courtside would be renovated one by one.
Residents of each house would temporarily shift to the house that had just been completed for a four- to-six-week construction period, Nam said.
This would mean that the residents of one of the buildings in Courtside would possibly have to be reassigned, since housing services was unaware of the possible construction during the sign-up stage, Nam said.
The residents would have about one week’s notice before moving out of and back into their original house, Nam said.
Whole houses would be moved together to maintain community, according to the housing offer letter from housing services.
To decrease the level of noise disturbance, Nam said he would try to limit construction from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., when students are in class.
Students who live in Courtside now, such as second-year computer science and engineering student Alireza Nazemi, said they enjoy the current quiet atmosphere because it allows for a good studying environment.
“My bathroom is really nice, it works,” Nazemi said. “But there are a lot of other people who say they have problems.”
But Nazemi did not mention moisture as one of the problems he or his peers have encountered.
First-year undeclared student Christine Smith is both a current and future resident of Courtside, and said she felt inconvenienced by the renovation.
“I would have picked Canyon Point … if I’d known (about the construction),” Smith said. “I wish they’d do it over summer because it’s inconvenient for the people living here … but I guess they don’t have time.”
Nam said he cannot give a definitive answer as to whether the $2 million renovations will actually happen, although the housing offer letters that went out to students earlier this month said that they would.
“We’re at the approval stages ““ we’re not at the point where we’re saying we’re going to go do it,” Nam said. “This may fall through, and this may be for naught.”
Students will be informed of whether the plan will go through as soon as the university knows officially, Nam said.
Currently, the housing offer states that there will be construction, and students can submit a change-of-assignment request if they do not wish to live in Courtside.
He said returning students who signed up to live in Courtside for the 2010-2011 academic year were notified of the renovations after they received their housing offers because he was unsure of the necessity of the repairs during the sign-up time.
Reports of soft flooring in Courtside’s bathrooms persisted enough for Nam to notice a trend about six months ago, he said, so contractors tore a bathroom in Courtside apart and realized a possible design error in the shower tiling that allows water to seep out.
“The longer I delay (renovating), the more chances there is for something to happen. Let’s say for a floor to deteriorate, or maybe a hole forms in the floor, maybe it leaks into the room below it,” Nam said.
