Construction needs work

A s if the University weren't having enough problems with current construction, an old project is now giving Penn administrators a new headache: The Inn at Penn is in the middle of a $9 million makeover.

Just seven years ago in 1999, the University opened the $120 million Sansom Common complex, which also contains the Penn Bookstore and other various retail stores and eateries.

Speaking with The Daily Pennsylvanian before the opening, then-Vice President for Campus Services Larry Moneta said, "I'm absolutely, unequivocally thrilled. The hotel has emerged exactly as designed and intended."

Half of that perfectly designed hotel is now blanketed with a six story tall sheet.

An evaluation by Hilton Hotels -- the company that manages the hotel -- found that mold had spread throughout the building. This finding prompted Penn -- which owns the complex -- to begin major renovations before the problem spread further.

While Facilities and Real Estate Services Senior Vice President Omar Blaik has claimed that this renovation is normal for hotels, shoddy construction and $9 million renovations should not be accepted as the norm by the University.

According to a source that was part of the original project, a lack of oversight was a major contributing factor to the leaks that led to the mold infesting the Inn at Penn.

With nearly $250 million spread across four current construction projects on or near campus, and a flurry of construction likely in the near future on the postal lands, the University cannot afford similar mistakes.

Transparency and oversight must become an essential element of all current and new development projects.

Sources should not have to remain anonymous to admit to this newspaper that "somebody screwed up in a big way" in the construction of the Inn at Penn. The public, and Penn students in particular, deserve to know when mistakes are made -- and that those who made mistakes are paying for them.

Ensuring public accountability and better oversight will help guarantee that Skirkanich Hall isn't draped with a sheet in seven years.

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