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only about $94,000 has actually been spent, leaving a remaining balance of $146,000 that campus leadership says has not been revoked but is being held for review.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.
The renovation funds were originally meant to cover replacement of unsafe cabinetry, sinks, electrical panels, ceiling panels, doors, doorways and a damaged printing press, per the same account. Sacramento State spokesperson Wendy Aguilar said the university takes concerns about student learning environments, health and safety seriously, and the campus facilities team indicated there were no known conditions within the ceramics studios posing an immediate danger to students, faculty or staff.
Students Take Their Frustration to the Walls
Students in Sacramento State's ceramics department organized a silent protest on Sept. 29, writing statements in chalk on the exterior of Kadema Hall, as the State Hornet reported. Phrases included broken promises and accusations that the university stole their money, according to the Bee's account of the protest. Sacramento State washed off all the chalk from Kadema Hall's walls by Thursday afternoon, and a student received a disciplinary notice alleging destruction of property, the outlet reports — the university may impose sanctions up to expulsion if a student is found responsible, though it did not respond to questions about how many students received such notices.
An art department student told the Bee that the community was angered by the perception that available renovation money was not handled with sufficient care. The university previously renovated Kadema Hall beginning in the 2019-2020 school year, spending $4.7 million on new restrooms, upgraded fire alarm systems and an elevator, air conditioning, and fixes to health, safety and accessibility issues — but the Bee notes that work was not enough to address everything still wrong with the building. A separate 2022 account from the State Hornet found that an earlier phase of renovation, started in early 2021 and originally slated to finish by March 2022, was pushed to April of that year due to supply chain issues.
A Building Already Marked for Demolition
Sacramento State has included a long-term plan to demolish Kadema Hall due to poor building conditions and replace it with a performing arts center in its capital outlay plans as far back as 2022, according to the Bee's reporting. Meanwhile, the university's newer facilities tell a different story: a 20,000-square-foot, $18.5 million Art Studio Lab unveiled in 2025 replaced the old Art Sculpture Lab and now houses technician and faculty offices, graduate student studios, sculpture, painting and drawing shops, a 3D technology lab, a lobby gallery and an outdoor sculpture yard, per the same source.
The contrast reflects a system-wide squeeze. One-third of CSU's facilities and 20% of its science buildings are more than 60 years old, according to GV Wire, which reports the systemwide cost of fixing degrading buildings and capital projects is expected to exceed $9 billion next fiscal year. CSU Chancellor Mildred García has said deferred-maintenance costs are expected to grow by roughly $400 million each year, with projections showing costs could top $11 billion by 2029-30 if no action is taken, the outlet reports. The CSU Board of Trustees has agreed to ask the state for $407 million annually for three years, matched by CSU funds, according to GV Wire.
The scale of the problem extends across California's public universities. CalMatters reports the deferred maintenance backlog has grown to an estimated $9.1 billion for the University of California and $8.3 billion for Cal State, even as combined maintenance spending across both systems totals about $1.5 billion annually. A majority of buildings in both systems are over 30 years old, per CalMatters, which notes that Sacramento State's own Santa Clara Hall — built in the 1960s and housing the engineering laboratory — has HVAC, electrical and telecommunications infrastructure that have exceeded their useful life, according to the CSU's five-year plan.
