Water filled the Grewcock Student Union hallway and seeped out the south entrance just after midnight on Feb. 8.
Chief Administrative Officer Richard Péwé said he was not informed of the incident by maintenance or security.
“I honestly don’t know what happened, which is surprising. This is the first time I’ve been surprised by something like that,” Péwé said. “I would never be upset with them for not communicating, because I know it was just an oversight. They’re so efficient at taking care of things that they’re already on to something else.”
A few weeks ago, the union had a flooding incident that originated in the same location. Both times, water began pouring from the ceiling of the vestibule, the small passageway between the interior part of the union and outside.
“This has been the most unusual winter in terms of extreme conditions. The extreme cold was the reason that the sprinkler head burst a few weeks ago,” Péwé said.
The same sprinkler head burst again on Feb. 8.
“The first time there was no insulation above the ceiling, allowing air in from the canopy from Mossey to Grewcock,” Superintendent of Custodial Services Dave Billington said. “We thought this would take care of the problem. Unfortunately, with the amount of times the door is opening and with the extreme cold, I don’t think the unit heater could keep it warm enough.”
Unlike the flooding a few weeks ago, this time, the water was a strange color. Student security workers were notified of the incident and promptly cleared the building of all students.
“We were just in the union and saw the water. It was a yellowish-brown color — who knows why?” freshman Jacob Thackston said.
The water was discolored because it accumulated an orange rust element over time from sitting inside of the pipes, according to Billington.
Meanwhile, the ceiling above the vestibule has been partially removed so that maintenance can ascertain exactly what happened.
“I removed the sprinkler head from above the ceiling for now until we can have something better,” Billington said. “The damage this time, as far as I know, was only ceiling tile. It did not get to the basement like it did last time.”
There’s no guarantee that the sprinkler head won’t burst again if temperatures continue to be far below freezing.
“That door gets opened repeatedly and the severe cold could definitely cause something to malfunction or crack,” Péwé said. “Other than keeping the vestibule at an ungodly temperature, there’s nothing we can do. We’ve put in the number of sprinklers that we’re required to and, 99.99 percent of the time, the pipes are fine. But it only takes one little pipe.”
