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The walls keep tumbling down eps have been Szaken to address the Waterloo Comâ€" munity Arts Centre‘s leaky roof. But water still keeps trickling into the historic Button Factory, the centre‘s home. "I think it‘s fair to say, with an old building, if the structure is not up to today‘s buildingâ€"code stanâ€" dards, then you run into these problems and it‘s more complicatâ€" ed to fix them," said Sher DiCiccio, the centre‘s executive director. The building, which dates to 1886, has creaky floors that someâ€" times cause noise issues between the storeys. The steep, narrow stairwel) preâ€" vents some seniors from going upstairs â€" there‘s no elevator to transport them. And, up until this year, the building has had singleâ€"pane winâ€" dows, resulting in the second floor being too cold in the winter, and too hot in the summer. The Button Factory isn‘t the only Waterloo facility facing infraâ€" structure problems. For instance, there‘s rot around some of the windows at the Canaâ€" dian Clay and Glass Gallery, and brick work needs to be done. City of Waterloo‘s infrastructure deficit growing with no help in sight Roof repairs and upgrades to By Jennirer Ormston _ Chronicle Staff the electrical and refrigeration sysâ€" tems are priorities at Rink in the Sher DiCiccio, the executive director of the Waterloo Community Arts Centre, looks at water damage caused by a leaky roof in the historic Button Factory, the centre‘s home, on Regina Street. And the list goes on and on. It‘s estimated it would cost $70 million over the next 10 years to maintain these and other city buildings at their current level, CITY NEWS Steven & Chris Barstoots, Dining. Lounge Accessories & , More! } said Michael Smith, Waterloo‘s director of asset management. _ To improve, rather than mainâ€" tain the buildings, it would likely cost $130 million over 10 years. The city‘s deteriorating roads are also showing signs of too little funding. Currently, 31.5 per cent are conâ€" sidered "below acceptable," and each year, they get a little worse, said Phil Hewitson, the city‘s direcâ€" tor of transportation. Waterloo needs to spend about $6 million to address these defiâ€" ciencies, but only $1.5 million was allocated to roads in the 2007 But the asset management group‘s capital budget for that time period is only $9.45 million. "If we don‘t spend $6 million, each year the roads will get a little worse," Hewitson said. Spending $6 million in 2007, meanwhile, would only maintain the roads at the level they‘re at â€" leaving about oneâ€"third still defiâ€" cient. "If we were to stay at our curâ€" rent budgeted level â€" $20 million over 10 years â€" we would go from 31 per cent deficient to 58 per cent deficient. So it‘s pretty serious," he "It‘s a concern because if we don‘t take care of this problem it‘s going to be worse for future Wood around the windows at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery is rot ting. JENNIFER ORMSTON PHOTOS WATERLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday, June 27, 2007 * 3 generations." In 2001, 30 per cent of the roads were deficient, and it would have cost $60 million over 10 years to repair them. By 2006, that cost had risen to $102 million over the same period. â€" When maintenance is deferred in the shortâ€"term, at some point it comes down to the old adage, pay me now, pay me later, said Bob Mavin, the city‘s chief financial officer. "Usually it‘s easier to pay someâ€" thing now for preventative mainteâ€" nance than paying it later when all of a sudden you‘re in a rebuild, restoration or reconstruction situâ€" ation." Most municipalities across Canada are facing similar deficits, which were caused by the provinâ€" cial government‘s decision to stop providing funds for infrastructure maintenance 15 years ago, Hewitâ€" son said. â€" Mavin, meanwhile, thinks it‘s ironic the money collected from gas tax for the repair of roads isn‘t returned to municipalities for their As Mayor Brenda Halloran sees it, municipalities, in general, are finding it difficult to maintain the services that the communities require because their funding is so restrictive. "If all that money is being colâ€" lected from gas tax, isn‘t that one of the purposes?" 0 Continued on page 6