Houston Hall ceiling torn down due to leak

The ever-growing list of problems caused by this winter's miserable weather now includes a leaky roof. Yesterday morning, after a leak was discovered in the roof of Houston Hall, part of the third floor ceiling had to be torn down, forcing the University Federal Student Credit Union to close for the day. Director of Student Life Activities and Facilities Fran Walker said last night that there was "no question" that the leak was related to the weather. Francisco Bayron, vice president for planning for the credit union, said Physical Plant workers arrived around 11 a.m. yesterday to start repairs. While he said the ceiling did not collapse, he added that the only way to repair the leak and prevent any further damage was to tear the ceiling down. Paul Reynolds, assistant manager of the Office of Student Life and Facilities, said the floor had to be closed at noon yesterday. He added that Student Health Insurance and Education offices, along with third floor meeting rooms were also closed at the time, but later reopened. Although there was no interior damage to the Credit Union office, Reynolds said it remained closed all day because the torn-down ceiling which lay directly outside the office. Students were not able to deposit or withdraw money from the Credit Union, but Credit Union staff were still at work processing checks and transactions yesterday, said Shiva Sarram, the Credit Union's Chief Operating Officer. Sarram said she was not sure if the office would re-open today. The decision will be made this morning once Physical Plant decides what repairs still need to be done. "Ideally, we will be open even if it means only having one or two windows," she said. Students can still withdraw money and obtain balance information from Automatic Teller Machines, Sarram said. She added that the best way for members of the Credit Union to find out whether the office is open today is to call their voicemail system at 898-9442. The Credit Union was closed last Thursday and Friday also, while the University was shut down. Sarram and Bayron both said that, for this reason, they are doing everything possible to make sure the office would open today. "We realize we have to be open as soon as we can," Sarram said.