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Mid-Sunday morning, Leonard Freed walked into the office that he has occupied since 1983 almost unable to recognize his own desk.
"Everything in the room was soot-covered, literally everything," said the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa associate zoology professor. "It was like looking into a dark abyss."
Freed's office in room 362 of Edmondson Hall was victim of a fire that Honolulu Fire Department officials believe was sparked by a faulty electrical outlet in the rear of his office.
The heat from the fire not only damaged the entire room, but its heat consequently melted a plastic cap on the pipe stemming from a sink in the office. The pipe soon burst, extinguishing the fire but likewise causing flood damage to three floors of the four-story building.
Fire officials estimate that the fire started around 8 p.m. Saturday, the flooding continuing until 8 a.m. Sunday, when a university maintenance employee first discovered it.
"The fire was just the tip of the iceberg," said Freed, who explained that in addition to the building, which was built in 1962, not having fire sprinklers nor smoke detectors in any of the rooms but three, Edmondson also has no drainage system.
"There has been many complaints that the UH administration should have fixed the electricity (in Edmondson) a long time ago, but it is on the list of deferred maintenance projects," said Gregg Takayama, UH director of communications. "Projects are done as quickly as we have the money to do them."
Edmondson not a high priority
At this time, the cost of the fire and flood damage remains unknown. Takayama did say that only the office sustained fire damage, but three floors were damaged as a result of the burst water pipe.
"We live in a slum," said Sheila Conant, chair of the zoology department, in reference to the professors who teach and have offices in Edmondson. "It's unfortunate there's not enough money to make this the university that the governor and the Legislature want it to be, because we want to do it."
However, extensive renovations and electrical rewiring of Edmondson Hall is number 58 on a list of 169 maintenance projects awaiting budget approval from the Legislature.
Takayama said these projects total an approximate $120 million in deferred maintenance, many of which have been on the list for several years, including Edmondson. He added that despite the current circumstance of Edmondson, it is not likely that complete renovations will become a higher priority.
"I thought (Edmondson Hall) was third or so on the list," said Freed, who was surprised at the university's relatively low listing of the building.
"This building is now downright dangerous," he stated. "I wouldn't call this an accident, this was waiting to happen. If it happened once given the age of the building, it will happen again."
Freed and Conant explained that the building has such poor electricity that the majority of the rooms cannot electrically accommodate all that is required of the faculty and students. Professors and researchers have to go through a long process just to have any additional items requiring electricity approved, many of which are rejected.
"Everybody knows that this is one of the worst teaching buildings in the state, not just the university," Conant said. "It's not a good working or learning environment."
Freed added that half of the building is even unable to receive high-speed Internet due to electrical shortages. His office was on the side that could not.
"I think my department is boiling mad right now," he said.
The restoring process
Naturally, classes were canceled Monday, affecting an estimated 1,000 students, said Takayama. Classes have since resumed in other buildings, the majority of them transferred to Webster Hall. Instructors teaching in the building notified their students of classroom changes via e-mail.
Freed said that his office has temporarily been relocated to a small graduate student cubicle, while the university is still looking to find a more permanent and suitable room until his office can be restored and renovated.
Freed explained that after an insurance claim adjuster has finished inspecting the building, he will be allowed to go in and determine what has been forever lost, what can be replaced and what can be restored. He added that he believes he did not lose too much research data.
One thing he fears that has been irreplaceably lost is a book on lobelioids, rare plants, that was published in 1920. The book was recovered from his wife's office, Rebecca Cann, a professor of cellular and molecular biology at the university. It was almost lost during the October 2004 flood that damaged Hamilton Library.
Freed remains hopeful, however, that not everything has been lost. On the other hand, he is skeptical that the proper renovations will be made in the near future to Edmondson.
"There's absolutely no reason why the building is in the shape it is in," he said.
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