SEPT 12, 2024 | NEWS | By Beau Toepfer
Around 3 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 6, a control valve in a janitorial closet on the fourth floor of South Hall failed, causing water to flood down the four floors through the elevator shaft. Water pooled at the bottom of the shaft and set off a nearby fire panel.
Colorado College campus security spotted the leak through CCTV and an emergency maintenance crew fixed the leak after the water had been running for about 45 minutes, according to Jordan Purvis, the South Hall Residential Life Coordinator (RLC).
The leakage put the elevator out of commission and damaged the ceiling panels and wall of one room on the fourth floor.
The following day, water mitigation staff installed large dehumidifiers and fans to assist in the drying process. It’s projected that the wall and ceiling tiles will be replaced within a couple of weeks. The elevator, however, could take much longer. Parts have to be ordered and extra considerations need to be taken to repair the water damage.
“As far as the time frame on the elevator repair, that is something that I’m not aware of yet because I’m waiting to hear back from the contractor,” said Jamal Westry, the facilities and maintenance manager for residential life.
Once a timeline is set for the elevator repair, Purvis plans to notify residents in South Hall. This could take several months, as there is a supply-chain shortage for some of the items that need to be ordered to complete repairs.
After the accident, Purvis reached out to residents of South to inform them of the elevator being shut down for the foreseeable future. Residents affected by the fourth-floor room that was flooded were also moved until the damage can be repaired.
“Fortunately, we don’t have any students with disabilities that need to use the elevator, because if that was the case, then potentially we would have to relocate them,” Purvis said. “But after connecting with accessibility resources (AR) and just reaching out to any students who do potentially have any disabilities, that wasn’t found.”
It’s unclear if the valve broke because of human error or because of general wear and tear. It’s highly unlikely that another flood is likely to happen again in South Hall or in any of the other dorms.
“In my four years here, I’ve not seen the big three dorms have something like this. Normally we have smoke alarms go off or something like that, but I haven’t seen a water accident like this before,” South RLC Gil Vaught said.