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Dear Campus Community,

I am writing to provide an update on Meier Hall. Over the past several weeks, I, along with Interim Senior Director of Capital Planning and Facilities Richard Goulet, have worked closely with our engineering firm, State Building Inspector, and our contractor for this project, Walsh Construction. We devised a plan for safely demolishing the compromised wall, within the northwest staircase, that caused us to close the building last month. As of this Wednesday, the compromised wall has successfully been demolished ahead of schedule and the affected staircase (the one closest to the bottom level entrance of North Campus Dining) remains temporarily out of use.

We are on track to reoccupy Meier Hall by the start of Summer Session I on May 23, with the exception of the fifth floor. The fifth floor cannot be occupied until the staircase is reopened due to a lack of proper egress from that level of the building with this staircase off-line. While we are confident about achieving this target date, I want to emphasize again that we will not reoccupy the building without assurance that it is safe to do so.

Provost Silva shared a message with faculty regarding monitored access to Meier Hall on May 16 and 17 for those who need to retrieve items before May 23. Please see Provost Silva’s message, which includes a signup link that must be completed by 3 pm on Sunday, May 15.

Thank you for your patience as we worked to ensure that the demolition of this wall was done in a meticulous manner that prioritized the safety of all involved. I will provide further updates as we continue working with our contractor, engineers and the state building inspector to ensure the safety of the building prior to reopening.

Thank you,

Gene Labonte

Associate Vice President of Public Safety and Risk Management