The ceiling in the basement lounge of Harnwell College House was leaking water for more than an hour Saturday afternoon.
Hamilton Village Building Administrator Max Reyes-Rosario wrote in an email to Harnwell residents at 4:58 p.m. that the fan coil unit and air handling caused the leak. The water affected the building's basement lounge, the College Houses and Academic Services kitchen, and music rooms in the basement.
An Allied Security guard said the flood leaked out to the basement elevator area. Residents were not allowed to take the elevator down to the basement. Another Allied Security guard added that a similar ceiling leak happened last winter in the package room, ruining some packages when the heat was turned on after winter break.
College senior Hannah Sanders said there were large amounts of water in the basement when she went there for a dance rehearsal.
The same afternoon, the Penn Bookstore was affected by massive flooding that caused a ceiling tile to burst. Customers later evacuated and the bookstore was closed for the rest of the day.
Facilities staff stopped the leak at approximately 4:00 p.m. after it started leaking at 2:30 p.m., according to the email.
Reyes-Rosario added that housekeeping is currently working on cleaning the water off the floor, and that Belfor, a property restoration company, was contacted to make sure the area is properly dried.
This is a developing story that was last updated at 5:40 p.m. Please check back here for updates.
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