With the addition of this year’s $7 million in deferred maintenance, the price tag for Iowa State’s list of buildings in need of maintenance or renovation has climbed to $60 million.

But university officials said campus is generally safe and classrooms and class sizes are matching up well.

University officials opted to place more than $7 million in scheduled maintenance projects on hold to compensate for state funding shortfalls earlier this year.

The biggest of those projects, said Vice President for Business and Finance Warren Madden, includes a $2.7 million ground-floor renovation of Pearson Hall, a $2 million child care facility north of campus and a $1 million window replacement and exterior renovation on Beardshear Hall.

The university also has decided to withhold funds it planned to contribute to the Department of Residence’s Union Drive Association Community Center. Madden said the Department of Residence has deferred some of its projects to complete the community center.

In addition to delaying these major projects, the basic building-repair budget also was reduced, Madden said.

“Budget restrictions will exacerbate [deferred maintenance concerns], but the alternative is to lay off additional staff members,” he said. “We feel that the appropriate choice was made.”

Iowa State would like to allocate more funds for maintenance, Madden said.

“We currently spend one-half of 1 percent of the cost of buildings [on repairs],” he said. “We would like to be spending one to two percent at least.”

Madden said safety concerns are a top priority.

“Overall, we’re in really good shape,” he said. “I believe our campus is generally safe.”

Lou Mitchell, associate director of environmental health and safety and manager of building codes, fire and general safety, agrees.

When Mitchell began his job in 1985, Iowa State had more than 1,000 items the state fire marshal said needed to be addressed. Now there are 125, Mitchell said.

Deferred maintenance projects exist everywhere, he said.

“We do get funding from administration to address safety items every year, but we’re never ahead,” Mitchell said.

Everyone, including students, should think about campus safety, he said.

“It is important that students realize safety is the responsibility of everyone,” Mitchell said. He encourages students to report problems they notice and to respond to drills and alarms quickly.

“Buildings can be safe, but occupants can undermine that,” Mitchell said.

Madden said the Board of Regents will ask the Legislature for $5 million to address fire, environmental safety and deferred maintenance at the Regent universities.

“We have to wait for the governor to make budget recommendations, but we’ve placed a high priority on these kinds of needs,” Madden said.

Classrooms are another major priority, he said.

“We clearly need to update and modify facilities,” Madden said. “Our highest capital priority is upgrading classrooms. We continue to prioritize needs.”

Because of budget cuts, course sections are growing, changing the university’s classroom needs. Katie Baumgarn, program coordinator for facilities planning and management, said there haven’t been any major problems.

“Departments are already thinking of a year from now,” she said.

Each class section has a set limit of students, Baumgarn said.

Those limits determine the size of the room needed, and based on rooms available, it can be difficult to raise those limits – especially during the “prime time,” between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., she said.

Baumgarn said only 23 rooms at Iowa State have a capacity of 100 or more.

“When classes are 300-400 students, we have only three options,” she said.