Over winter break, rooms in Clark were damaged due to a water issue that caused flooding in the building.

A window left open on the third floor of Clark resulted with a washing machine water line to freeze and burst due to the frigid weather.

The washing machine water ran for hours before someone noticed it and turned it off.

The damages and flooding were discovered Dec. 28 in the afternoon from a resident in Clark.

Vice president of facilities and management, Rick Ewing, said that there is a lot of damage in Clark and that it is going to be expensive to fix and replace everything that was ruined.

“Not only was there damage to finishes like plaster, paint, and ceiling tile, the water also damaged some of the elevator equipment, IT closet equipment and the boiler controls,” Ewing said. “Additionally the kitchen was hit which damaged the microwave and the oven.”

Ewing stated that facilities in turning in an insurance claim and the amount of damages could possibly cost up to $30,000.
Not only was the kitchen area affected, the first and second floors of Clark were impacted from the flooding including dorm rooms.

Some of the rooms had minor damages while others need items replaced or students had to dispose of clothing, sheets and other items that were ruined from water stains.

Freshman Clark Hall resident, Sydney Beavers, describes what had happened on the first floor and what is ruined from the flooding.

“For the first week back from break, our halls smelled terrible,” Beavers said. “They told us that because of the flood, the WIFI wouldn’t work, our swipes wouldn’t work to get into the building and that there was only two floors for laundry.”
Beavers said she was expecting the worse for her room but she only found water stains on the walls and that the room is outrageously hot at night because the windows have to stay shut.

“It’s all really just one big inconvenience,” Beavers said. “But it could have been a lot worse.”

Another Clark Hall resident, junior Sarah Koenig, lives on the second floor and says that she had to throw out items that were in her closet.

“Some of the items in my closet were damaged, especially in the upper part of my closet,” Koenig said. “The towels and sheets in the upper part of my closet were soaked from just sitting in the water. Most of the water stains washed out of my clothing, but my cardboard containers that held my clothes were ruined and had to be thrown out.”

Along with Beavers, Koenig’s dorm room had water stains on her floor and around her bed.

With the damage done in Clark, students have received emails from area coordinators asking to keep the windows closed to prevent other water lines from freezing and bursting.

Ewing stated that even after what had happened in Clark, there are still windows that are open in some residence halls. Ewing wants students and staff to know how important it is to keep the windows closed so that this incident can be prevented in the future.

“In this season of fluctuating temperatures, it is critical that all students, faculty and staff help in keeping windows closed and reporting when open windows are noticed around campus,” Ewing said.