The Cleveland State University Student Center and Berkman Hall reopened Wednesday for classes and services after a City of Cleveland water main broke on Monday, flooding parts of campus and forcing closures on Tuesday.
In an email to campus Tuesday evening, the CSU administration said some lingering problems were being dealt with. It said the Facilities team was flushing the building water systems, but discolored water could take 24 hours to fully clear. Some elevators in Berkman remained out of service and the lower level of the Main Garage was closed.
The university first reported the water main break on Monday. The incident resulted in the closure of facilities in Berkman Hall, including bathrooms and kitchens, as well as the closure of the first floor of the main building parking garage.
Throughout the day on Monday, the university provided updates to the campus community regarding the status of the break and the restoration of services.
At 1:07 p.m. Monday, the university reported that restroom facilities had been restored. However, the elevators and parking garage remained closed. No additional updates were issued that day.
On Tuesday morning, the university escalated its response. In an alert sent at 8:17 a.m., Cleveland State announced that both Berkman Hall and the Student Center would be closed for the day.
The closures affected several campus services, including the main dining room and resulted in the cancellation of all classes scheduled in Berkman Hall. Students were affected in a range of ways.
“I work at the student resource center, and I was really counting on the hours from my shift today," said a student worker. "But it was closed, and I'm counting on those hours to pay off my tuition, so kind of sucks that I didn't get to work.”
To accommodate students affected by the dining hall closure, Cleveland State and its dining services partner, Aramark, set up a temporary buffet in Fenn Tower. But before any formal announcement was made, students thought they’d be left to fend for themselves.
“Oh, my God, what am I gonna do? Starbucks, Chick-fil-A," said one disgruntled student. "Everything's closed, and it was closed for about an hour before they opened anything else up, so what were students supposed to eat on campus?”
Following the closures, The Cleveland Stater contacted Cleveland State’s public relations team for additional information, but did not get a response by the time of publication.
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