Patrick F. Taylor Hall began flooding Wednesday afternoon after an HVAC system’s coil is suspected to have burst on the fourth floor, according to Executive Director of Facility and Property Oversight Tammy Millican.
The water has caused an unknown amount of damage but multiple classrooms, laboratories and offices have been flooded compromising roof tiles, electronics, personal items and equipment as students and faculty alike try to mitigate the destruction.
“I saw one light fixture start leaking, then another. And then when the third one started to drip, I got up and moved away,” said engineering and computer science major Jay Smith. “And that’s right about when the ceiling in that area came down.”
Members of the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers were in a club meeting when they were informed that they had to evacuate their equipment from one of the closets in the PFT.
“We have actually a meeting at five o’clock, and we were let know that we had to go get our supplies out of the back,” said piano performance sophomore Camila Cuadra. “So we are now trying to save our club and every other club’s materials in there.”
While Janitors and construction workers tried to clean up the water, faculty and students attempted to save or salvage their things, dragging out books, printers, photos and other personal belongings.
Jacob Parent, an electrical engineering junior, was busy helping move electronic equipment from labs when he spoke to the Reveille.
“I was surprised, but you know, we needed to get the equipment out of the way because there’s lots of electronics up here,” Parent said. “So, first reaction was to go to all the labs, help the grad students get their equipment out, go to the power lab, get all this equipment out and then go wherever I need to go next.”
Parent was unsure just how much damage the incident had caused.
“I couldn’t put a number on it because I just imagine it to be too big.”
The Panera Bread on the first floor endured considerable destruction, throwing all of its food away due to water damage. Ceiling tiles and light fixtures were also damaged and the cash register broken.
“We have rain coming from our ceiling, from our lights,” said Panera Bread employee Chantenay Taylor. “Our ceiling just came through. Too much is going on in this one building. We are always missing money.”
When asked about her reaction to the situation, Taylor stated simply: “Bulls–t.”
Not all of the building has been affected by the leak, and in some areas students have continued to study, and faculty continue to work. As of this writing, power remains online at the PFT.
Facility services are currently working on the situation and will inform the registrar Wednesday night if certain classes need to be canceled for Thursday.
