INDIANA UNIVERSITY PURDUE UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS

COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING Administration Building, Suite 136 355 N. Lansing Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46202-2896 317-274-7711 Fax: 317-274-5457

UTILITY TUNNELS TO CLOSE AUGUST 1

IUPUI will purchase vehicles, hire additional staff and take other measures to transport aboveground equipment and other materials that are now moved through underground utility tunnels connecting campus buildings on the north side of Michigan Street.

Citing safety concerns, officials said the utility tunnels will be closed to pedestrian traffic, beginning August 1, 2001.

Although originally meant to provide easy access to repair utilities, use of the hallway-sized tunnels as pedestrian ways has grown over the years, including transporting patients from one campus hospital to another rather than moving them above ground.

A pedestrian tunnel between Riley Hospital and University Hospital will remain open, as will an underground connection between the Medical Research/Library Building and the Van Nuys Medical Science Building.

Water, electrical, and communication lines run through the utility tunnels, as do steam pipes. Safety concerns associated with aging infrastructure, including steam joints that could develop leaks, prompted restricting the use of the tunnels to the purpose for which they were originally designed, officials said.

Trucks, vans, and other vehicles will be purchased and drivers hired to transport equipment, supplies, items used in experiments, and other material that is now routinely moved through the tunnels.

"Riley won't be affected by this at all. We implemented new patient transfer procedures on June 1," says Kevin Hammeran, senior vice president of Pediatric Services for Clarian. "All of our patient transfers, whether they are coming from Wishard or from Evansville, Fort Wayne, or anywhere else, are handled the same way."

Plans are currently underway to facilitate the movement of patients between IU and Wishard Hospitals.

Persons with safety questions or questions about why the tunnels are being closed may contact Emily Wren, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Facilities. Questions concerning transportation of animals may be directed to Cathy Vogelwied (cvogelwe@iupui.edu), and questions about MERP access may be directed to Beverly Hill (bhill@iupui.edu). Operations questions about other matters should be directed to the appropriate supervisor. Zone maintenance trouble lines are available to report tunnel emergencies 24 hours a day.

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