Cox and Wheeler suffer water break
| News Editor | Briana Adhikusuma
A waterline break was discovered in the Cox Residence Hall early Tuesday morning. The break caused an evacuation of all residents in the dorm, as well as water loss to both Cox and Wheeler Hall.
The break was discovered in a mechanical room of the building. According to Angela Stimpson, the executive director for Facilities Management, dispatch reported the break around 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
“All water came into the mechanical rooms and no student rooms were impacted,” said Stimpson.
Electric power had to be shut off before the break could be reached and repaired. Last evening around 5:30 p.m., both electric power and water were restored to Cox. All residents have been allowed access into the residence hall again.
“Cox is back up. Everything is functional except the elevator. We are expecting about a two-day delay on bringing that up due to parts needing to be ordered,” — Stimpson.
Wheeler experienced water loss as well on Tuesday morning and will not be restored until Wednesday roughly around mid-day, according to Stimpson. Residents have not been evacuated from Wheeler.
“Wheeler is still down. Wheeler water will not be back up until tomorrow. We have one guy in route leaving early tomorrow morning to get the part needed to bring Wheeler back up. [He] should be back in town mid-morning [or] late morning depending on traffic, and then we’ll have it back,” said Stimpson.
The exact cause of the waterline break is yet to be determined, and according to Stimpson, the break is isolated.
“Everybody pulled together as a team. Glad to see it back up especially with the snow.”
The waterline break follows soon after a 10-inch water main line broke outside of Bedford Hall during exam week last semester.
Stimpson said the damage to Bedford was significantly more than damage in Cox. Five contractors including water cleanup and electrical had to be called in for the repair and cleanup process.
The damage took all of the winter break to repair and cost more than $200,000, according to Stimpson.
By the time the break was found around 5:25 a.m., “the loading dock, which is below ground level, was completely full, and the dumpster was floating around inside there,” said Christopher Register, the art department chair. “The water had gotten under the main loading dock door and another door, and then a window into Professor Paulek’s office. It went from the street and filled the entire basement, all the way to Brock Commons, three inches deep.”
Although other floors weren’t affected by water flooding, the ground floor had three inches of water throughout the whole floor. According to Register, the majority of the damage was drywall. Eighteen inches had to be cut from the drywall.
“It was a terrible thing that happened, but if it had to happen, it was the best result…We were afraid all the computer were going to be fried because the power was flickering so much. That wasn’t the case.”
Two computers and an art piece constructed from paper were the only equipment and art damages due to the water.
Wygal Hall, the Communication Studies & Theatre building, and Greenwood Library were affected by power loss from the break.
According to Register, Stubbs Hall also suffered from a water main break a few days later.
The cold weather and general wear and tear were determined to be the causes of the break in Bedford.
