Update from Olympia: The case for Carver

In his latest dispatch from Olympia, Joe Timmons, the assistant director of Government Relations at Western Washington University, makes a case for the funding of the upgrades to the Carver Academic Facility. He begins:

For the third biennium in a row, the Carver Academic Facility is Western’s top capital budget request. Carver is not only Western’s most heavily-used building on campus, it is also the largest indoor assembly space in Whatcom County, and it is in urgent need of renovation. The state has already invested $7 million in design funding; acting now to renovate Carver will ensure that this funding does not go to waste.

There are many reasons why a renovation of Carver is needed, but perhaps none are greater than the need to strengthen seismic stability and improve accessibility throughout the building. The safety of the complex is a great concern, with parts of the building scoring a 5 out of 100 on a scale of seismic stability. Funding for renovation of Carver would help ensure that students and faculty in the facility would be safe in the event of an earthquake. Additionally, Carver is not currently compliant with the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) because portions of the building are not fully accessible. A renovated Carver would comply with ADA regulations and would be equally accessible throughout the facility.

Read the rest of this post on the website for Government Relations.