Construction noise, fumes, grinds on Kerckhoff Hall
Planning officials work to limit noise, prevent machinery
emissions
By Allyssa Lee
Huge wooden walls line the Kerckhoff Hall patio, enveloping the
construction occurring in and around the building.
But while the barrier blocks out the unsightly view, it has not
been able to shield the UCLA community from other inconveniences of
construction.
"It’s a big pain to walk around," said Drew Hettinger, a student
at the UCLA graduate school of education.
Many students share Hettinger’s views that the construction site
is both inconvenient and noisy. Some students as well as faculty
have commented on fume emission from the construction site as
well.
"It’s annoying," said Christina Hong, a first-year engineering
student. "I’m a first-year student and it sucks that I can’t even
see what the campus looks like. It’s OK because it’s improving the
school, but I am bummed about the deforestation around the
dorms."
The construction crews are presently working on a base isolation
project on Kerckhoff Building  a project which demolishes the
first floor of the facility in order to make seismic
renovations.
Planning officials have acknowledged the concerns of the
students and said they have tried to accommodate the student’s
needs as much as possible.
Mike Otavka, associate director of facilities for UCLA’s student
association, said that the organization  which occupies the
building and is overseeing the construction  has requested
that the site representatives call and give advance warning before
beginning projects that involve loud noises. The noisiest
construction activities have been restricted to after 9 p.m.
But residents of the immediate area surrounding the construction
complained of hearing loud noise during the night.
In order to accommodate community members, construction hours
were rescheduled to end at 1 a.m. instead of 5 a.m. during the
demolition portion of seismic renovations.
"The community has complained about the noise (during the
demolition of Ackerman Union), so contractors had to stop earlier,"
said Otavka. "(But) we haven’t had any complaints recently.
"There will be periods of noise during the day," Otavka added,
"but the (noise) will not be constant."
But students remained critical of the noise and inconveniences
spawned by the renovations and expansion of the student union
buildings.
"I have a class at Moore Hall, and our guest speaker was a very
quiet-spoken women. And right across the open courtyard they were
doing some construction and we had to keep (asking) her to speak
up," Hettinger said. "I felt angry that they’re doing this during
the day, when education should be first, especially in Moore
Hall."
In addition to the noise, however, some students and faculty
working in the Kerckhoff building have complained of diesel exhaust
fumes in their offices and working areas produced by the
construction equipment .
Grace Liu, office manager of the student media, works adjacent
to the construction site and has made frequent complaints about
fumes.
"I am here more than eight hours a day and it was so hard to
bear  it was so hard to breathe," said Liu. "I had to leave
just to get fresh air."
"It goes through the publications director’s office and it’s so
bad," said Jennifer Henderson, a fourth-year communications studies
student and staff member of the student publications office.
"There’s a thick layer of dust over everything  it’s really
disgusting. And there’s a really bad smell  I don’t think
that’s beneficial to one’s health."
Liu said she addressed the problem to students’ association
officials and UCLA’s Environmental Health and Safety office, both
of which, according to Liu, were relatively unresponsive and not
courteous. The problem would be solved for one day but the fumes
always return, Liu added.
Otavka, however, said he believes the construction crews have
responded to the students’ and faculty’s needs.
"I think the contractors so far have been receptive to the
requests for quiet and to get the fumes out," he said.