Damage assessment and repairs are still in progress in the University Union after the flooding that occurred the week before the beginning of the semester.

Bill Olmsted, director of the University Union, said most of the ballroom areas were flooded with two to three inches of water. The student store had some damage, but the majority of the damage occurred in the basement, where many school items are stored.

The student store had more damage than the facilities crew originally thought, but it will remain open while the repairs are under way. Repair crews will cover affected areas with tarp, so that products in the store will remain accessible, Olmsted said.

Lisa Koltcz, Store assistant manager, said The Store in the union had one to two inches of water. Some cabinets will be replaced, and the registers may be raised.

“It was back to front; it even got into our safe,” she said.

Koltcz said the money wasn’t damaged much, and the affected amount has not been tallied.

“The Union is doing everything it can to take care of the situation with as little inconvenience to us as possible,” she said. “They moved fast when it happened, and have gone to great lengths to clean it up.”

Olmsted said they are still waiting on the damage figures. Christensen is working on the insurance claim, and should know the cost of the damages in another week.

When the flooding occurred, the water went up and over the back loading dock of the Union, down two flights of stairs and into the freight elevator. When the water filled up the shaft, all of the hydraulic fluid came up and out, causing damage to the basement.

Olmsted said most of the Sheetrock in the basement had been moved about a foot up. When the repairmen come to fix the elevator, they will have to manually raise the car, then get under it to finish cleaning up. While the car is raised, Sheetrock work will be done in the elevator shaft.

“The elevator is in an exclusive area, away from the public,” he said. “We are able to do room setups and catering with minimal public reception.”

Right now we are having to use the regular elevators, which puts us out in the open with the public.”

Kirtland Stout, the university risk manager, said Facilities has aggressively mitigated the problems caused by the flooding.

Stout said Mike Christensen, Interim Assistant Vice President of the Environmental Health and Safety Department, hired Four Star Cleaning and Restoration to clean and dry all the affected areas. Stout said they are using infrared light on the walls to locate wet spots.

Stout indicated that an emergency power generator failed to switch on that morning, causing the drainage pumps to stop working.

“Any water on our campus has to get pumped off the campus to avoid flooding,” Stout explained.

Stout said Facilities has formed at team to check all buildings for hazardous situations.

“Most of the infrastructure on this campus was built in the (1950s),” he added.

Olmsted said the focus of the clean up has been to minimize the effect of the damaged areas on students.

“We have had to move some of the scheduled events to different rooms in the Union, but there have been no cancellations,” he said.

Sally King can be reached at [email protected]