After collapsing not once, but twice last year, Norsworthy Hall's roof is getting a much needed overhaul.
According to Campus Planning and Construction, roofers will be working on the building until November to replace the current slate roof and repair any damage.
Residents moving into the building Aug. 28 received a letter from Gretchen Cseplo, director of the office of Residential and Community Development (ORCD), outlining the project.
In addition to replacing the slate roof with a shingle roof, the contractor, Laurant Roofing, will replace the flat roof, rain gutters and downspouts to prevent leaks.
Last year, Amanda White and Mandy Falkenstein, senior biology majors, had to live in a room with a damaged roof in Norsworthy Hall for four days before being relocated.
Facilities repaired the 12 square-foot hole in the ceiling, but the two students could not catch a break.
The roof in their new room collapsed March 1, sending the two back to their original room. They had to spend the night in a friend's room before receiving help from ORCD the following afternoon.
Sean Stallings, assistant director for the ORCD, said that as a result of problems like those White and Falkenstein experienced, the College made the decision to replace the beleaguered roof.
"You don't want to keep repairing the roof," he said. "You don't want to patch it and move on."
Work will be done on sections of the roof in 30 square-foot increments.
Stallings said workers were demolishing the slate and underlayment to find deteriorated areas and replace them, as well as replacing the roof itself.
"Residents can anticipate the most noise when the old roof material is being removed and when the new roof is applied to the area over their room," Cseplo wrote. "Noise related to roof work may be heard at any given period during the course of this project."
Contractors will work on the building 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays.
They will keep the same hours on the weekends if weekend work becomes necessary.
Workers are not allowed to use the bathrooms inside the building, and will have limited access to the inside of the building, as regulated by Mike Puccio, residence director in ORCD.
Stallings urged Norsworthy Hall residents to report any problems with the building or with the project to ORCD staff immediately.
"We don't want students to just put up with it," Stallings said. "We want to know immediately."
Stallings said he has been "very impressed" with the contractor's work so far.
He said they seem to be fast as well as conscientious about safety and doing a quality job. But he also said he realizes the project will be an annoyance for the Norsworthy community.
"The challenge for the community is to be understanding," he said. "This experience (was) not anticipated."
For Norsworthy Hall residents waking up to the sound of roof work every morning, the challenge is apparent.
"It wakes us up and we have men looking in our windows," Cristina Kavendek, sophomore psychology major and Norsworthy resident, said.
"At least the roof's getting fixed," Kavendek's roommate Susie LaBonte, sophomore biology major, said. "I'll live with it."
