Castle evacuated after power loss

While most University students were soundly asleep in their own beds Tuesday night, a number of students were forced to find other accommodations due to power outages in the area. At 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Office of Residential Living ordered the residents of the Community Service Living-Learning Program -- more commonly known as The Castle --to vacate the building, said Samantha Hodge, a Castle resident. All residents had to stay out of the building until yesterday morning. Philadelphia Electric Company spokesperson Lisa Moorhead said power was cut off Tuesday morning when a garbage truck backed over a manhole cover located on the sidewalk of 36th Street between Sansom and Walnut streets. The manhole grating fell into the manhole destroying a transformer which supplies electricity to the area. Hodge, a College sophomore, said Residential Living deemed the building to be unsafe without the fire alarms and sprinklers which operate on electricity. She said Castle residents were given an option to spend the night in the Stouffer College House or to find other quarters. But Hodge said the hour and a half notice to move out was not enough time for some residents to gather their belongings. "Some people forgot their bedding," Hodge said. "They had to sleep on pillows made out of their dirty laundry." Still, most Castle residents took the events in stride. Engineering and Wharton sophomore Eugene Huang decided against relocating to the Stouffer College house in order to spend the night with a friend living off campus. "I think it is unfortunate that this little incident happened," Huang said. "It just inconveniences us for a day, [and] there is not much you can do about it." And College junior Tamzin Cheshire said she is pleased that Residential Living responded quickly to the crisis. "I think it was handled pretty well," Cheshire said. "[Residential Living] gave us rooms right away." But not all Castle residents were as understanding about the situation. College sophomore Amy Hoopes said she was angry when she came home from classes and was told to move out immediately. "It was pretty upsetting," Hoopes said. "It was such a disruption to everyday life." Castle residents were not the only ones affected by the power outages. The Alpha Chi Rho fraternity house, located at 219 South 36th Street, was awaiting renovations when the power failed, Alpha Chi Rho President and College senior T.J. Zane said. Zane added that he was eventually able to locate a power generator so the construction work could continue on schedule. The Mellon Bank building, located at 36th and Walnut streets, also suffered power loss all day Tuesday, but power was fully restored yesterday.