While most of Rhode Island College’s student body returns home for Thanksgiving break, the college will be using the opportunity to take care of critical maintenance to the underground steam system that heats most of the campus. Major repairs to the underground steam system near Alger Hall are slated to begin on Friday, Nov. 25, though preparation work has already been underway.
“The college has an underground steam issue. We have been advised by our experts that this is something we have to take care of in the near future, therefore the college has scheduled repairs to begin the day after Thanksgiving, on Friday morning,” said Vice President for Student Affairs Gary Penfield at last Wednesday’s Parliament meeting.
“It is probably an 18-hour job, therefore it will carry over into Saturday. There will be no hot water or heat in any buildings once construction begins… This is a project that the college cannot and should not delay as we enter the winter months,” he said.
According to Penfield, all buildings west of Alger Hall, including all residence halls and the Murray Center, will be without heat and hot water. Additionally, Library Road will be closed for a period of time on the side of Alger.
The repairs are a campus maintenance project, and not related to the recent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act-funded project that replaced water mains and made other infrastructure improvements throughout the campus.
