University of Arizona Police Department is looking for the people who broke several windows Jan. 1 at approximately 4:15 a.m. The Architecture building, located at 1040 E. Olive St., along with several other campus buildings, had windows broken.
Seven people broke 16 windows on six campus buildings near Speedway Boulevard, according to UAPD. The damaged buildings were the Marroney Theatre and the Architecture, Music, Civil Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Art buildings. The damage is estimated to be more than $20,000, said Chris Kopach, associate director for Facilities Management at the UA.
“”The state and the university are in such terrible financial condition; this is sad when the university has to spend its’ hard-earned money on repairing a broken window because of what I call bad citizenship,”” said Ron Stoltz, associate dean of the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.
Stoltz said replacing the windows is expensive because it’s a three-stage process.
First, the window has to be removed and boarded up. Then a new window is attached with structural silicon, which is like glue, and wedges are put in place around the window to secure it. After it dries, caulking is installed to seal the window.
The time it takes to fix a window can take up to several weeks because UA works with an outside contractor, Kopach said.
Stoltz estimated there must be about 100,000 windows on campus and that hundreds get replaced every year.
He went on to add that the Architecture building was designed with so many windows because they wanted transparency.
“”The College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture built a building so we could be open to the public. The public could see the activities of what goes on here 24 hours a day. It’s a shame that we have people who disregard the safety of the people inside,”” Stoltz said.
The suspects are five men and two women, described as being in their late teens and early 20s. If they are caught, they will face felony charges. Their punishment could be time in prison as determined by the court, said UAPD Sgt. Juan Alvarez.
In the Music building, the Dean of the College of Fine Arts’ office window was broken. There were also three computers and a flat screen monitor that were stolen from the building.
The Architecture building, however, is the most frequently damaged. Since April 2007, there have been 51 windows broken.
“”There was a rash at the beginning, particularly during construction. Then two people were arrested and the problem went away,”” Stoltz said.
Broken windows began to reappear in spring 2009, Stoltz added.
The Architecture building has double-paned windows. Only the outer windows are broken, but Stoltz said he’s worried about the possibility of the inner window breaking.
“”It is something we are concerned about because, if anybody theoretically breaks the inner window, it’s tempered glass. The window will shatter,”” Stoltz said.
Kopach said that about 50 percent of all the buildings’ windows have been replaced, including the window of the College of Fine Arts Dean.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call UA police at 621-8273 or 88-CRIME.
