When Allen Community College opened its Iola campus in 1970, it featured a boiler system with a life expectancy projected at between 45 and 50 years.
That was 55 years ago.
Ryan Sigg, the college’s plant operations director, is eager to find out just how much life remains in the system before it should be replaced.
The difficulty lies in finding a company capable of doing a true assessment of the system, Sigg told college trustees at their March 12 meeting.
If there’s a failure, it would likely be within the two-pipe system that feeds water and steam to the boiler and chiller units, Sigg told college trustees at their March 12 meeting.
“We know they get aged, but there’s really no good way to test without opening this pipe and looking at it in different areas,” Sigg explained, comparing it to a city digging into aging water mains to see their condition. “I’m not sure we want to start that, because that could lead us to an issue we can’t stop.”
Here’s the kicker.
Sigg also knows replacing the system entirely would come with a hefty price tag — perhaps as much as $5.5 million.
It’s just one of many issues Sigg is grappling with as he looks at developing a five-year facilities plan for the college.
“We have a lot of equipment that is definitely at its life expectancy,” Sigg said.
But he’s also uncertain what warrants the highest priority.
To that end, Sigg received the go-ahead from trustees to reach out to companies well versed in facilities assessments.
“I’d hoped to have numbers for you tonight,” Sigg said, but instead they’ll be presented at the college board’s April 8 meeting.
He’s reached out to multiple companies to do a facilities study already, but only one had responded before the March trustees meeting.
Their estimation was that such a project would cost between $45,000 and $60,000, depending on the scope of the study.
Sigg promised to further discuss options with the vendors to get a firm bid.
Other issues of concern revolve around the campus’s various climate control systems.
