Cal Poly Humboldt would need about $179 million to make the campus physically accessible, the university’s latest estimate found.

Compared to the facilities budget, “it’s massive,” said Travis Fleming, CPH Acting Associate Vice President of Facilities Management.

The estimate was calculated in March following the university’s biennial facilities condition audit. Georgia-based consultant ISES Corporation tallied up costs for fixing all the physical accessibility issues on campus, like renovating bathrooms, repaving sidewalks and other areas noncompliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The ADA, passed in 1990, requires public universities to provide equal access to students with disabilities.

The hundreds of issues on campus, called “barriers,” stop people from accessing an area, like a sidewalk curb that prevents a wheelchair user from taking a path. The consultants logged some 190 barriers for the exterior alone.

This estimate includes projects at campus housing, academic facilities, walkways and outdoor spaces. The costs are scattered throughout the campus, said Fleming.

“One thing that’s really expensive is making existing restrooms accessible,” he said.

For example, he said making the men’s and women’s bathrooms accessible in the Music B building would take about $750,000, not including design costs. Contractors often have to move walls and redo plumbing, while still meeting fixture counts required in bathrooms.

To hone in the estimate this year, Fleming added an individualized multiplier to the consultant’s estimates based on the difference between projected and actual costs of recent projects. He said factors like locally elevated fuel and shipping costs, and limited competition, mean construction projects typically end up more expensive than estimated at Cal Poly Humboldt.

Contractors for state projects also must meet insurance and prevailing wage requirements.

He believes some estimates are a bit overshot. But since he’s not expecting a $200 million check to arrive in the mail this year, he said inflation will shortly eat into any wiggle room.

Fleming said the hilly topography alongside the age of the buildings makes addressing accessibility problems particularly challenging.

But the biggest thing blocking improvements is funding, alongside the construction schedule that requires much of the work to be done in the summer, he said.

The university requests funds for projects each year from the state as part of the capital outlay program, and can now use this estimate for requests.

“Right now, there’s not a lot of state funding that’s coming in for capital improvements, so we’re trying to find as much money internally that we can,” he said.

A push has been underway over the last few years to address deep rooted accessibility issues at Cal Poly Humboldt.

In 2023, a student filed a class action lawsuit against the university, alleging the Cal Poly Humboldt failed to create an emergency evacuation plan that took into account her disability. She also alleged she was excluded from campus activities and ran into a spread of barriers daily, like inaccessible bathrooms or doors. The case was ultimately settled out of court.

Efforts to chronicle problems sparked a smattering of people to form the Committee on Accessibility and Accommodation Compliance (CAAC). They’ve identified hundreds of barriers and called for improvements.

Some are hopeful the $179 million estimate will help secure funding to fix the long-standing issue at the university.

“It’s kind of this ridiculous pile of money,” said James Graham, co-chair of the CAAC and professor of geospatial science.

This estimate exceeds the yearly operating budget of the University.

Graham is hopeful that having this figure handy will help the campus administration, and advocates, push for funding. He said it gives a clear number for the campus to request from the CSU Chancellor’s office.

“For the first time, we have a dollar figure,” said Graham.

Graham said CPH’s 1993 ADA transition plan has an $11 million figure for similar work. An updated transition plan is set to be finished shortly.

More recent figures didn’t address the cost difference between estimates and the current market, noted Fleming.

UPDATE, Thursday 12:40 p.m.: In a follow up email from a spokesperson, Fleming also attributed the ballooning estimate to additional ADA accessibility requirements since 1993, inflation, and the increase in construction costs. 

“It’s important to note that today’s list is more detailed and comprehensive than in the past because of the new accessibility requirements of ADA laws,” he said.