by Brian Sabath ’17
For some reason, it seems like water and the Saint Ignatius campus have not gotten along well this school year.
In September, Loyola Hall was victim to an unfortunate water damage problem spreading to 6 classrooms, the Dean of students office, and the bookstore. This time water wreaked havoc on the other side of the mall.
Early Tuesday morning when most Ignatius students were gleefully sleeping, knowing that they wouldn’t have to go to school that day, major water damage occurred in the main building. At around 7:30 am, a heating coil ruptured because of the freezing weather. The damage caused there to be no heat in the building all day Tuesday, and also caused pipes to leak water into the math wing, library classroom, and partially the Walton Center. Maintenance was quickly informed of this incident and worked all day Tuesday until 11 pm that night to make sure that the Main Building would be heated for Wednesday’s school day.
Although the building was heated throughout Wednesday, the damage was still widespread. The leakage was so severe in Mrs. Reagan’s classroom in the second floor math wing that she reportedly requested that students avoid setting their backpacks on the floor.
The school administration was confident that the cold weather was the force behind the ruptured heating coil.
“The unusual combination of -11 degree weather as well as a strong west wind was the cause of the incident,” said plant services manager Mr. Peter Hendler when asked what the main cause of this incident.
As for repairs, the ceiling tiles all have to be replaced due to water damage. New tiles will be installed over the weekend and the rooms damaged will be fully repaired in time for Monday morning– hopefully ending this school year’s string of water trauma.
