Seattle Central’s main entrances have been awaiting renovations for years

It has become common to see safety poles at Seattle Central College’s main entrance. Security officers sometimes guide people to which door they can come through. Yellow straps are also seen across some doors at the side entrances of the building. Many would like to know how long these straps will hold these doors or when they will be removed from the entrances.

The Seattle Collegian met with Sean Chesterfield, director of Safety & Security, to learn more about the issues with Seattle Central’s entrances. “The doors are aging,” Chesterfield said. “Some have been replaced; some need to be replaced.” According to Chesterfield, the main entrances need to be repaired or replaced sooner rather than later. However, they have been waiting years for that to happen.

“When I came here in 2020, the doors were aging. So, we have informed the director of facilities on a few different occasions,” Chesterfield noted. “The doors are still functioning but need to be repaired. The main entrance really needs to be repaired,” he added.

Ensuring the college’s main entrances are well-functioning should be a priority. Given the potential urgency of the situation, it’s surprising that the doors still haven’t been completely renovated over the years. 

To inquire about this matter, The Seattle Collegian met with Patsy Tsui, associate director for Capital Projects at Seattle Central College. “Ever since I came to work here in August 2023, I see the cones in these entrances. So, I figure those are broken,” Tsui said. “I noticed that we have funding in the next biennium for replacing the doors, but it is not as much as we thought it would need.”

Tsui noted that the state has slotted $80,000 for the next biennium to repair doors. “But we have some excess funds this year on the 2023-2025 biennium,” she said. “Dr. Woods decided this is a high-priority project, so we’re going to try and tackle it this biennium, which ends in June next year.”

However, she mentioned that the proposal they got from a consultant for all four entrances– North, South, Harvard, and Broadway–was estimated at $700,000. “We don’t have that much in excess. So, what I’m doing right now with the job order contractor is doing the one on Broadway, since the heaviest used one is that one and the one on the North, since that connects to the light rail station and the SAM building.”

They hope to repair those three entrances before June 2025 using the excess funds and then continue with the other doors when they receive funds for the next biennium. However, since the funds are less than the estimated cost, the initial plan is to repair the doors to be functional rather than fully renovated.

Regarding the delay, Dr. Johnny C. Woods Jr., executive director of Campus Operations, said, “It took that long because our initial submission didn’t include the doors. When we did an initial analysis, there was this perspective about, instead of replacing the doors, could we replace some elements of the doors? From a financial standpoint, from a sustainability standpoint of the project, from the durability standpoint of the doors, it didn’t make sense.”

According to Dr. Woods, the most appropriate thing to do is to replace the doors, and it’s taking this long because they have to go through the state budget system.  

However, there is also hope and a plan to use the excess funds to repair as many of the main entrance doors as possible by the end of June 2025.