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INDIANA UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEFebruary 19, 2014Frederick GlassTom MorrisonFRED GLASS: Good afternoon, everyone. Appreciate you coming together. We had actually just planned to put out an updated release on what was going on because there's not tons of news, but because of the interest and all the inquiries, we wanted to go ahead and have an availability. So I'll give you a quick update on what's going on, and I'll be happy to answer any and all questions that people might have. We successfully got the crane in today about 12:15. I don't know how much the inside baseball, in which you might be interested, but we started with a different crane, recognized that the wheels weren't broad enough to absorb the weight of the crane so as to avoid damage to the floor of Assembly Hall, so we had to reload and get another crane. It's a 135‑foot crane from our friends at MacAllister Machinery. They've been very cooperative with us. They brought it down from Indianapolis and we got it here at 12:15. We actually had to take up the wooden floor that the team plays on, and put down rubberized sub‑flooring as that thing is so heavy and potentially damaging. We did make use of the time before 12:15. Our university engineers and our external engineers were on the scene. They were in what apparently is a fairly intricate catwalk network inside Assembly Hall to see as much as they could see from the inside, and they were also actually on the roof today, and those are our, again, our in‑house lead engineers from the University as well as the engineer from Arsee Engineers, which is the engineering firm that has been monitoring Assembly Hall for many, many years and has done our structural inspections on the roof. The engineers were able to confirm what we thought was the causation issue last night. So in sort of layman's terms, which is all I know in the engineering world, there is a valley in the roof of ‑‑ an intentional designed valley in the roof of Assembly Hall, snow collected in there, and then as snow melted, it slid in and created a sort of a super load in that area. They speculate that it was probably the biggest load that the roof has borne, if you will. All that pressure went to where that plate was and essentially popped it off, which, of course, is a flaw in a variety of ways. But a targeted and unique event. So we do believe that we understand the cause and that it is largely limited to the plates that bear the full brunt of that snow. They were able to make a complete visual and physical inspection, both internally and externally, so that is behind where the siding is, if you will, as well as on the front end by virtue of having the crane there. Did find two or three other places where the steel plating was loose. None of which was eminent to fall. I want to emphasize that there weren't any plates that they thought were in any kind of short term danger of popping off, but there were some that were loose. So we continue to be working on the assessment, the nature of those plates, whether they do have any sort of structural utility or not, and then what the best method is going to be to remediate those, and those details are being worked out. We have been told that they are confident that they'll be able to completely assess and remediate, which is engineering talk for fix, the plating and give us a 100% all clear and confirmation that the plating is secure and Assembly Hall is safe. I'll add that while they were there, the Arsee Engineers, the guys that reviewed the structure, they were able to review the overall structure of the roof and just as it was reflected in August or September when the last inspection was made, they're confident in the integrity of the structure of the roof itself, but that's not to minimize it. Obviously, there is a problem if the roof pinches down and pops a steel plate off. So, in short in sum, I guess the causation seems to be what we thought it was last night. The assessment or remediation is ongoing. The engineers are confident that they'll be able to have that repaired and certify it as safe before the next men's basketball game, which I think is next Sunday, and then we're also confident that it will be done in time and hopefully reschedule Iowa back here at Assembly Hall at a time that's mutually convenient for both teams. I'll also mention that the women's game is still ongoing tonight. We're going to keep those areas roped off in an abundance of caution, even though the engineers have indicated there is no danger at all of those plates coming down because they've inspected all of them, and even the ones that are slightly loose are not in danger of coming down. But we're going to keep those roped off and not have any fans sitting there. So Barbara and I will be at the game tonight, and looking forward to finding some nice seats in the middle of the arena with the rest of the folks. In terms of the Iowa game being rescheduled, conversations are ongoing with Iowa. We're confident that we'll reach a mutually acceptable time and date within the 72‑hour window that we have to do so, and we're confident that game will be here at Assembly Hall. So with that, I'll be happy to take any and all questions. Q. Yesterday you had said that you gave some thought to moving that fascia, if you will. You've decided against that and will repair it and keep it up there? FRED GLASS: The short answer is the whole remediation plan is not finalized. Last night I think there was a feeling that those had a purely cosmetic function and therefore could come down without having any structural ramifications to it. They're trying to make sure that's right. So they're into the blueprints and doing engineer testing things. So the short answer is we're not sure that will be the alternative. They have a number of proposed approaches. They're fine tuning that and testing that and doing all those sorts of things. But they are to the point where they gave us a great deal of comfort that it was quite fixable. There would be lots of belt and suspenders on it for multiple options. Frankly, given the detail on which the structural engineers have gone over that area, it's probably or it will be the safest building in the Big Ten, if not the country, when they're done. TOM MORRISON: The engineers just completed what was a very extensive review, as Fred said, both inside and out. Behind the wall and in front of the wall with the crane. They are right now meeting to try to work on the remediation plans, and now they have all of their data and they're working on exactly how to affect the fix. Again, they've given us some comfort level as to what the timeframe will be in rough terms, but they're working on exactly how they're going to do it. Q. There wasn't any area that was really loose? TOM MORRISON: Probably the same cause. Again, the roof because of the snow load, again, it's designed to flex. [LOSS of AUDIO] ‑‑ possible to get back to the people who designed it. So all you have in the history of the building is, for instance, they're going back to that and looking at what we can do going forward. FRED GLASS: But your point, Dustin, last night it looked like it was purely cosmetic. It looks like now there might be some other utility to it. So that's part of what they're doing is sorting out the fix. Q. If you guys decide for the plates to be removed, is that something you would want to do after the season? FRED GLASS: We'll rely on the engineer's advice on how to do the fix that makes it the most safe. So it would be hard to speculate whether it's going to be a plate‑on or plate‑off solution, and really think it's smartest to wait until we really know the definitive solution from the engineers. Q. Is it part of ‑‑ the structural concern that you're having, is it because you think the metal plates are possibly helping hold those panels that make up the facade, and how much of a concern is there that possibly the roof could have gotten damaged from those panels pushing it? TOM MORRISON: No, that's not one of the concerns, but to touch on your question, and as Fred notes we were thinking about them being completely ornamental, but everything is connected to something else. And you want to make sure if you remove something else or change something else, it doesn't have an impact further that you didn't initially consider, and that is what the engineers are looking at now. Q. If you decide to remove the plates, do you know how long that process would be? TOM MORRISON: Not long. Q. A day, a couple days? TOM MORRISON: I don't want to say exactly, but given how quickly once we got the crane in today and how quickly we were able to inspect all of the reaches of those four sections, we believe that the plates could be unscrewed and lowered fairly quickly. We were able to do an assessment of those four areas of the building from inside the building with the crane in about three hours. Q. Not to be redundant, but there is not an immediate threat, but could it be a threat at some point or they're not going to get any worse than they are now? TOM MORRISON: We're not going to let them be. That's to Fred's point. We're going to air on the caution of safety right now, and then we're going to get right back up there with the solution, whatever that solution is. FRED GLASS: Just to be super clear, so they're loose, but not in an imminent danger of falling. They're either going to be removed or‑‑ the plates will probably be removed under any scenario. The issue is will they go back up in a more secure way, and that's part of what they're thinking about. So we're not going to leave them up there loose. They'll either come off and stay off, or they'll be adhered in a way that the engineers are 100% confident they won't come down, huge snow load or not. Q. Does it clear the road block of setting a new date with Iowa now that you've got confidence from the engineers? FRED GLASS: I think getting confidence from the engineers that we could host in time was the key part on my end of making sure the facility is available. So that was the threshold issue. Now it's just a matter of the two programs in consultation with the Big Ten finding a date. So I think to your point, since we've cleared the hurdle of the engineers having confidence it will be a safe building to host the game, they'll be able to find a date. Q. Is there a possibility of it being before the Ohio State game? I know you said you were confident the building would be ready by then. But I think there is a window in your schedule between next Tuesday and next weekend. Would it be possible to happen before the Ohio State game? FRED GLASS: Yeah, I don't want to speculate on a date because I'm not really involved in those conversations. But I do think that the engineers believe that the building will be ready well before the Ohio State game. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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