Facilities Update: Completed Summer Projects & What's Ahead

Happy New Academic Year! We hope your summer was restful and rejuvenating. 

Over the past few months, the Facilities team has been working diligently behind the scenes to repair and reimagine our campus, better serving our community.

Here are just a few of the many projects we completed with campus partners:

• Collaboration with the City of Tacoma on the new 21st Street crosswalk and sewer upgrades
• Classroom refresh of BB107, including AV upgrades
• Replacement of aging HVAC equipment in the BHS building
• Relocation of the Library Makerspace to TLB 109
• Renovations in the Autism Center.
• Removal of a handful of dead or dying trees that posed safety hazards
• Installation of new campus banners in partnership with Marketing & Communications
• Enhancements to our energy metering system for better consumption tracking
• Project launch of future campus efforts to decarbonize in alignment with the Climate Commitment Act

Looking forward
One of our top priorities is the UW Tacoma Power Grid Resilience Program, which focuses on enhancing the reliability of our campus power supply in terms of both capacity and redundancy. These efforts — ranging from detailed studies to equipment upgrades — are crucial to supporting current operations and achieving the long-term goals outlined in the campus master plan.

A significant step in this program is the installation of a new electric transformer near the Dougan Building, scheduled for mid-October. To complete this safely, two planned power outages will be required as we transition to a temporary transformer.

Once the work is complete, the new transformer will be energized, and the temporary generator will be removed, marking an essential step in strengthening our campus infrastructure for the long term. We will send additional details about the outages via email and through UW Alert. 

We are grateful for our talented and dedicated Facilities team, who keep UW Tacoma welcoming and vibrant for everyone who studies, works, and visits. If you see them around campus, please take a moment to say hello and connect — their work truly makes a difference every day.

We appreciate your continued partnership in caring for this beautiful campus.