The cost of faulty and flawed windows installed up and down the University of Iowa’s 14-story Stead Family Children’s Hospital continues to grow as the campus has asked to spend another $7.5 million on a “near-total window replacement effort.”
That bigger window replacement budget — if approved by the Board of Regents next week — will bring the total cost to replace cracking and damaged windows encasing the eight-year-old hospital to $52.5 million. The increase represents a 16 percent hike from the $45 million budget approved in 2023 and a fivefold spike over the original $10 to $15 million regents approved spending in 2021 to replace what was then just two floors of windows.
“The hospital was completed in 2017. Since the completion, window issues have resulted in a near-total window replacement effort,” according to a UI request made public this week seeking regent approval for the budget increase. “These issues include the development of delamination and cracking that present potential safety hazards.”
UIHC learned of the worsening problems through “continued active monitoring,” according to board documents. The additional concerns relate specifically to “slot windows” — which run parallel up the tower, separating horizontal sections of patient windows — and warrant replacement “to maintain both safety and building envelop integrity.”
The window replacement expense adds to the growing total cost of the Children’s Hospital — which was plagued by delays, design changes, mismanagement and defects, as reported by The Gazette in 2018.
www.thegazette.com
That bigger window replacement budget — if approved by the Board of Regents next week — will bring the total cost to replace cracking and damaged windows encasing the eight-year-old hospital to $52.5 million. The increase represents a 16 percent hike from the $45 million budget approved in 2023 and a fivefold spike over the original $10 to $15 million regents approved spending in 2021 to replace what was then just two floors of windows.
“The hospital was completed in 2017. Since the completion, window issues have resulted in a near-total window replacement effort,” according to a UI request made public this week seeking regent approval for the budget increase. “These issues include the development of delamination and cracking that present potential safety hazards.”
UIHC learned of the worsening problems through “continued active monitoring,” according to board documents. The additional concerns relate specifically to “slot windows” — which run parallel up the tower, separating horizontal sections of patient windows — and warrant replacement “to maintain both safety and building envelop integrity.”
The window replacement expense adds to the growing total cost of the Children’s Hospital — which was plagued by delays, design changes, mismanagement and defects, as reported by The Gazette in 2018.
University of Iowa now facing ‘near-total window replacement’ for Children’s Hospital
That bigger Children’s Hospital window replacement budget — if approved by the Board of Regents next week — will bring the total cost to replace cracking and damaged windows encasing the eight-year-old hospital to $52.5 million.
www.thegazette.com
