by: Mason Gentry
On Oct. 23, the Parkland Board of Trustees approved $509,850 for a campus-wide door lock upgrade. Chief Colbrook, Director of Parkland Public Safety, told me in an interview that the amount approved is just for the design phase.
Colbrook suggested that I talk to Jim Bustard, Director of the Physical Plant and project lead, who would know more about the pricing and phases of the upgrade. Because of the plan’s prematurity, Bustard was not able to provide commentary on the project. However, in an email, he mentioned that the first meeting with the engineers and architects will be held this week.
“That roughly half–million dollars, that was just approved by the board of trustees is simply for the design phase—the initial phase—just to get the system engineered and designed, not put in place,” Chief Colbrook told the Prospectus.
Colbrook also stated that the system has not been designed yet, but when they first meet, the Parkland stakeholders will provide the architects and engineers with a wish-list of what they are looking for.
After this meeting, the designers will figure out the prices and follow up with the college. Because the final price is still unknown, it is uncertain what the upgrade will look like, exactly. However, Colbrook says that he sees a system, “Where we could possibly lock doors, unlock doors—the exterior doors—remotely from here [the Public Safety Office].”
Colbrook said that because there are many exterior doors, Parkland College officials, Public Safety, the Physical Plant and the lock designers will conduct a “door lock audit.”
There are many exterior doors, which means a decision for which doors will be remote lock-unlock accessible must be made. Those involved will also have to identify which doors inside of the school will be used in that remote system. Colbrook said classroom doors are their “Number one priority as far as interior doors.”
Students will likely not be affected by this upgrade. On the wish-list, specific keys to faculty members are included.
“Say a faculty member has class at 10 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, whatever device that we provide them, whether it’s a card or a key fob, we can set the permissions here at Public Safety and give that faculty member permission to open that door ten minutes prior to a class on that Monday, Wednesday, Friday, right before ten o’clock,” said Colbrook.
Outside of those timeframes, perhaps on a Tuesday or Thursday, a faculty member may not have access to the classroom.
Students may also be granted similar access to classrooms for practice in their classes at the discretion and request of the faculty member in charge.
“The challenge is getting a wire ran, from a controller, through the walls, through the ceiling, to the actual device that locks and unlocks the door, so that brings a pretty big challenge”
The chief of police informed the Prospectus that the upgrade will replace the “hybrid system” that we have today. He said that most of the door locks and keys that the school has now are made of brass. Along with those brass locks are a “very limited” number of doors that can be locked and unlocked remotely from the Public Safety office.
There are also a few doors that are accessed by touch pad or by swiping a card. According to Colbrook, this process will seek to, “Standardize all the locks across the entire campus.”
Amongst other obstacles, “The challenge is getting a wire ran, from a controller, through the walls, through the ceiling, to the actual device that locks and unlocks the door, so that brings a pretty big challenge,” Colbrook said.
If everything goes well in their first meeting and during design phase, Colbrook hopes to start construction in the summer of 2020.
