Loyola has issues, maintenance issues to be precise, and the university is budgeting approximately $560,000 to take care of them.

Starting next semester, Loyola will have an official plant fund, which will be solely dedicated to the campus’ repair and maintenance needs. A plant fund is created as a part of the annual budget and will be put towards the university’s deferred maintenance issues, as well as future issues.

“Loyola has not had a plant fund for a number of years,” said the Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J, university president.

In fact, Loyola hasn’t had one since before Hurricane Katrina, so the maintenance of many major issues has been deferred for quite some time.

The repairs are not things people usually think about or even see, like worn heating and cooling pipes, roof repairs, interior and exterior painting and infrastructure.

Some of these repairs are already being addressed with the current construction, according to Wildes.

But according to Jay Calamia, vice president of Finance and Administration, all the repairs are major capital expenditures.

“Each (will cost) hundreds of thousands to several million dollars for repair and replacement,” Calamaria said, which is why such a hefty amount of money is necessary for the fund.

According to Calamia, setting aside the funds for these repairs will save the university money and hassle in the future, according to Calamia.

“Putting aside funds for deferred maintenance and addressing those needs as they arise allows the university to not have to seek millions of dollars of bond funds to address the aspects of maintenance,” Calamia said, which the university has had trouble with in the past.

“Most of the recent $35 million bond issue was used to address deferred maintenance and prepare the campus for the future needs as they arise,” Calamia said.

However, the university plans to put aside funds to address such expenditures every budget year in order to keep up with ongoing maintenance and to keep Loyola from winding up with deferred issues again.

Erin Clements can be reached at [email protected]