Victoria - A Mystery at Bancroft Hall. by M.W. Russell

Some of the water dripped onto expensive lab equipment, per the report, which then overheated when staff tried to protect the equipment with plastic. Water stains bloom on ceiling tiles, some of which are missing because of damage and mold. Department personnel report midshipmen have difficulty “staying engaged during classes,” auditors wrote. Rickover, which houses the engineering and weapons department, gets so hot, the academy has canceled classes.

Though the Naval Academy admitted women in 1976, if female midshipmen want easy access to the bathroom in Nimitz or in Rickover Hall, they’re out of luck. The water it collects from storms is flowing off rooftops, concrete and other impervious surfaces into the Severn River without any treatment. The problems go onīancroft Hall, the academy’s only dorm, sits atop a deteriorated drainage system, which cannot be repaired, auditors wrote. It didn’t work for most of 2016 and some of 2017. In a 20-day span, auditors found the library multimedia graphics laboratory reached 80 degrees or higher 15 days.Īmong the most startling discoveries, the library sprinkler system does not cover the entirety of the building - and the fire alarm system “is antiquated and does not provide mass notification,” according to the report. The Special Collections and Archives temperatures consistently top the federally required 65-degree conditions for storing records. The failing HVAC system in Nimitz threatens years of archives, which have already suffered water damage from leaking pipes. The bookshelves are too close together and violate a federal law requiring equal access for people with disabilities to federally funded buildings. If someone in a wheelchair wants to navigate between the stacks, that person likely can’t. Some electric panels are obsolete and cannot be replaced. Built in 1975 and never updated, the library has doesn’t have enough electrical capacity to supportvisitors and students using laptops and charging cellphones. The Nimitz Library hosts its own set of problems. According to an April 2015 evaluation, high chlorine levels create adverse health effects.

The mechanical systems regulating the pool also outlived their usefulness, leading to higher amounts of chlorine in the pool. The pool basin is five years past its life expectancy, with exposed rebar pock-marking its underbelly. Macdonough Hall houses the combat training pool, which academy staff said is leaking. The balcony above the pool, sitting atop rusted columns, is condemned and 14 years past its life expectancy, auditors found. There is mold growing along a stairwell wall next to the pool. And while nearly three-quarters of midshipmen use the gym to stay in shape outside varsity sports, the deteriorating building threatens the Naval Academy’s ability to continue physical training for midshipmen. The Macdonough Hall gym, built in 1903, has never had a major renovation.

Victoria - A Mystery at Bancroft Hall. by M.W. Russell