After facing a construction issue earlier this month, the Calvin T. Ryan Library staff was forced to temporarily close its bottom floor and bathrooms. The bottom floor and restrooms were closed for a day and reopened the following Monday morning.
The issue most likely resulted from a clog in the plumbing system.
“There was a bit of a rush because when we discovered the problem, there was raw sewage coming up from the floors in the basement,” said Evan Boyd, dean of the library. “So we had to quickly evacuate the lower level to make sure folks were not near any issues there, and then we pretty quickly sent out a message across campus.”
Boyd said the main challenge was directing students and faculty to other buildings on campus to use the restrooms during the closure.
“Obviously, everybody needs bathrooms on the same floor (where) they are working and doing studies,” said Muskan Muskan, a freshman majoring in sports journalism.
Once the problem was discovered, Boyd said UNK Facilities and Management Planning employees were quick to respond and arrived within about 10 minutes.
“It took a little bit more time to resolve just because it happened on a Friday,” Boyd said. “They had the sort of internal portion of the clog dealt with on Friday, but there was still a blockage outside of the building that had to be cleared (Monday) morning.”
Michael Cremers, director of Facilities Management and Planning, said it is primarily their staff that takes care of issues such as these on campus.
“We do have to prioritize the level of emergency that exists with every request that comes in,” Cremers said. “Anytime we have a backed up or plugged sewer line, that’s usually one of our highest priorities, only because we have to prevent potential water damage from a backup.”
UNK Facilities and Management Planning has a budget used for utilities, which is divided among the different departments. The budgets are used for a variety of repairs that are needed within the departments but are limited.
“I’m really proud of our team, and how they are able to do so much with a limited amount of folks, and a limited amount of budget dollars,” Cremers said. “They’re able to keep things going, and so I just appreciate what they do every day.”
