Cockroaches and rats scurry through Sacramento State’s Kadema Hall, sinks run clogged with discolored water, and students jury-rig extension cords because entire studios lack wall outlets. That’s the picture painted by students and faculty inside the 64-year-old building, even as $146,000 set aside for repairs sits frozen while the university reviews the funding.
Kadema Hall houses ceramics and printmaking studios, faculty offices, art history classrooms and a couple of galleries, according to the Sacramento Bee. The outlet reports that of the $240,000 then-university president Robert Nelsen announced in 2022 for Kadema Hall renovations, only about $94,000 has actually been spent, leaving a remaining balance of $146,000 that campus leadership says has not been revoked but is being held for review. No further details on next steps or a timeline were communicated, per the same report.
That lack of clarity followed years of asking. A faculty member told the Bee the department had requested a timeline for completing the remaining renovations several times over the last four years, with delays possibly tied to facilities staff turnover, contractor changes and rising construction costs. On September 25, the university’s budget office rejected a request to carry the remaining Kadema Hall repair funds into the 2026-2027 budget year, and administration encouraged departments to find alternative funding sources for continuing projects, the outlet notes.
Inside the Ceramics Studio
The conditions described go beyond cosmetic wear. Faculty members report wood rot, cockroach and mouse infestations, rodent droppings and mold inside the ceramics studio, the station’s report states. A lack of sediment traps means sinks and drains are frequently clogged, and in some studios without wall outlets, students plug equipment, lamps and other devices into multiple extension cords routed through a single surge protector…