Cold weather causes floods, damage

Bitterly cold weather and maintenance problems continued to cause problems across campus in the last few days. Low temperatures caused sprinkler pipes to freeze and burst in High Rise South yesterday and in College Hall Sunday, and the shopping complex at 3401 Walnut Street experienced a brief loss of heat due to a malfunction in the boiler room. Temperatures in the Philadelphia region dropped to 27 degrees during the day yesterday. A ruptured sprinkler pipe between the third and fourth floors of College Hall sent water "cascading" into offices -- including that of College of Arts and Sciences Interim Dean Walter Wales -- that face Houston Hall, according to Lou Visco, maintenance and utilities director for Physical Plant. "The winds were blowing so hard that the pipes froze," Visco said. "We believe that the wall wasn't insulated between the ceiling and the floor of the two levels. "It probably wouldn't have happened without such cold weather," Visco added. Water began leaking into the Office of the General Counsel on the second floor of College Hall and traveled through the ceiling to the dean's office. It continued into ground-level rooms belonging to the Graduate Division of Arts and Sciences. "There wasn't any structural or major damage," Visco said. "It was mostly wall surfaces, ceiling tiles and wet carpeting." He added that most of the damage occurred in the SAS Graduate Division office. Although the pipe burst over the weekend, employees only noticed the leak yesterday morning, and Physical Plant employees began the cleanup immediately, College Hall Building Administrator Saul Katzman said. Department of Risk Management and Physical Plant employees are investigating the damage to the offices. The cold weather caused a similar maintenance problem in High Rise South yesterday, when a sprinkler line burst due to low temperatures, according to Al Zuino, associate director of residential maintenance. The sprinkler leak in High Rise South activated the building's fire alarms, sending residents out into the cold. Water also spilled into the mechanical room in the building's basement and seeped into the High Rise South Commissary. "There was no major damage -- only a lot of water," Zuino said. Sophomore Todd Rosenberg, the commissary's manager, said although he saw no damage to items in the store, the water presented an unwanted hassle. "I'm annoyed because I want everything to run smoothly," he said, adding that yesterday was the first day the commissary allowed students to make purchases on their PennCards. And the Food Court and retail shops in the Shops at Penn complex lost heat from 10:30 a.m. to approximately 11 a.m. yesterday, according to a Physical Plant employee. The boiler in the Food Court which provides some heat to the 3401 Walnut building malfunctioned, shutting off heat to the Food Court and the building's B-wing, which houses many offices belonging to the University's History department. Physical Plant employees reset the boiler after about half an hour, restoring heat to the building. In addition, a water main burst at 40th and Delancey streets yesterday, temporarily flooding the street. And the heating system in Hill College House shut down for approximately two hours Saturday afternoon.