Heating Problems Persist Across Campus

By Tia Porter

The spring semester has been off to a cold start with two overwhelming snowstorms only a few weeks apart. To make matters worse, many students spent the first two months without heat or hot water.  

During the week of Feb. 4, the community was alerted to the fact that there had been a boiler failure on campus. Most buildings on campus were shut down, with the exception of residential spaces, the Phys Ed Building, the Stood, the Children’s Center and the Neuberger Museum of Art. As a result, students and professors had to make a last-minute switch to virtual learning. This disruptive change remained in place until the following week, when the boiler was repaired; however, the heating issues remained.

Steam bellowing from a heating unit attached to The Olde. (Photo by Nolan Locke)

“I haven’t had heat for over a month,” said Michael Madera, a freshman creative writing major. “I put in multiple work orders as well as requested a portable heater, to which I was told there weren’t any to spare. I suffer from chronic asthma, and having no heat greatly exacerbated my asthma to the point where I was forced into urgent care three times. I spent around $200 on these visits and getting the necessary medication to treat myself. All this to say, it would’ve been avoided if I had the proper heat during the cold weather.”

Madera explained that his dorm in Crossroads has had little to no heat since late January. Throughout February, he tried to put in several work orders and obtain a space heater, but his problem remained unfixed. Madera described the water in the showers as “tepid cold,” and by March, he had been forced to miss several of his classes before the semester was even halfway through.

In Crossroads, where most first-year students share communal bathrooms, Madera noticed that most of the time, there was only cold water in the showers. When he traveled to Farside and Central, he found that the latter had similar issues.

With an increase in the temperature, Madera has had an easier time living on campus, but the problem has yet to be fully resolved.

The week of March 8, the heating plant was shut down again; this time it was planned. Facilities sent out an email announcing that there would be a necessary follow-up to the repairs made in February. This week was chosen due to the weather forecast, which predicted high temperatures in the 60s and 70s. During this time, classes continued as scheduled, and student living spaces continued to have heat.

While there were a few sunny days, when the temperature dipped into the 40s, this change was felt across campus. Especially in the academic buildings that were already very cold.

“It’s freezing in here,” said Rosario Pastrana-Palmer, a senior sociology major. “I have, like, multiple layers. Look, I’ve got leggings under this, another shirt under this, and a sweater. I’m still cold.”

Pastrana-Palmer had gone into the Humanities building for class and found she had not dressed warmly enough. Fortunately, she had brought an umbrella to help with her walk back to her dorm, when the rain briefly turned into snow.

According to Steven Dorso, the interim director of facilities management, the boiler had tube leaks that needed to be repaired.

“There were two leaks that needed to be fixed during this last shutdown,” Dorso said. “The first leak was found during the initial inspection after the boiler was shut down and drained. After the leak was repaired, the boiler was refilled and pressure tested, which revealed a second leak. The boiler then needed to be drained again in order to fix the second leak.”

Boilers naturally accumulate sediment over time, which can disrupt the system and inhibit efficiency. This results in uneven heating and damage to the boiler if left unchecked. This extended shutdown was necessary to perform the repairs that will keep the boiler running in the future.

“Other work done during the shutdown included cleaning the interior of the boiler, including the removal of scale,” Dorso said. “The entire process took five days, beginning Sunday afternoon, March 8, and ending Friday afternoon, March 13.

Recently, members of the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) gathered to speak out about the many maintenance issues and petition for an increased budget that would go toward critical issues like the boiler failure.

NYPIRG poster meant to encourage students to sign their critical maintenance petition. (Photo by Tia Porter)

“I’m glad people are actually doing something about this,” said Daniel Griffin, a sophomore interdisciplinary art major. “Most of my classes are in the Visual Art building, so when classes were online, we couldn’t do much. All of our pieces, like these huge canvases, are in there, and we couldn’t work on them.”

Griffin lives in Fort Awesome, where he has experienced many problems with the temperature in his building. During the fall semester, the air conditioning in his dorm had been stuck on the highest setting. He submitted a work order, and weeks later, he was able to sleep without having cold air blasted over his bed. The problem returned when the first storm hit campus, and he wasn’t able to increase the temperature.

“The thermostat in my dorm hasn’t worked since like, September,” Griffin said. “Just another day at SUNY Purchase.”