An underground chilled water line beneath University Place broke Monday morning, affecting air conditioning to Bird Library and detouring Centro city bus routes traveling through campus, said Kevin Morrow, director of news services at Syracuse University.

University Place was closed to traffic Monday and Tuesday between its intersection with South Crouse Drive and its intersection with College Place. The Q2 parking lot was also closed. University Place and the parking lot will reopen today, Morrow said.

‘The risk management department worked with the university steam station to resolve the issue,’ he said. The break was repaired Tuesday afternoon. He did not give a reason for the break.

Morrow was unsure if the air conditioning to Bird Library was completely shut off. He said he thinks that domestic water – water service to drinking fountains and the bathroom in the library – was not affected by the break.

A few students and employees at Bird Library said they were aware of the break via an e-mail from SU News, but they didn’t notice the effect it had on the library.

Charles Harvey, a librarian assistant, worked from 4 p.m. to midnight Monday and Tuesday and was notified of the water line break.

‘I know it happened Monday morning, but I didn’t notice anything different about the air conditioning in here,’ he said.

Ritika Anand, a graduate student in engineering management, was stuck at Bird Library for two hours Monday afternoon because she couldn’t find out how to take the Westcott bus back to her house due to the bus reroutes.

‘I didn’t read the e-mail alert (about the break) until much after,’ Anand said. ‘I was trying to take a 2:20 bus back, but I was stranded here until about 4:30.’

Wayne Chen, a freshman aerospace engineering major, arrived at the library Monday at approximately 3 p.m. and didn’t realize anything had happened.

‘There’s air conditioning in here?’ he said. ‘I didn’t notice anything, really.’

But for some, the break had more severe effects.

Colleen Woodward, security supervisor for evening hours at Bird Library, said the effects the break had on the library were noticeable but tolerable. She said she thought chilled water had been shut off to the building, but that everything was repaired by 4 p.m. Tuesday.

‘Even though it was a bad break, SU did its best to repair it,’ she said. ‘It was a sticky situation.’

shmelike@syr.edu

Published on April 22, 2008 at 12:00 pm