Residents return to apartments after pipes burst

All but four of the 32 residents of Charter Oak Apartments who were displaced after pipes burst in Hough and Foster Halls on Jan. 30 and Jan. 31 will be allowed back to their apartments today, according to UConn spokesperson Michael Kirk.

The students were provided rooms at the Nathan Hale Inn while damages were repaired.
According to John Armstrong, the associate director of operations for Residential Life, the pipe burst on Jan. 30 at 2 p.m. in Hough Hall and, the following day, another pipe burst in Foster Hall at 11:40 a.m.   

Jaclyn Russo, a 6th-semester English major, came back to her apartment on the third floor of Foster Hall on Jan. 31 to find fire trucks outside and her apartment flooded with more than an inch of water. 

"When I came home there was water everywhere and firemen walking around," Russo said.

The reason for the pipe burst, according to Armstrong, was a combination of the below zero temperatures that weekend and the design of the building. When Charter Oak was first designed, it was made with a wet sprinkler system in the attic. The two layers of insulation were not enough to prevent the pipes closer to the exterior walls of the building from freezing and breaking.

The heat generated from the apartments usually keeps the pipes warm, but the freezing temperatures caused the pipes to crack and leak water when they expanded. "Since then all the pipes in the attics have been checked and reinsulated," said Armstrong. "Water in the third floor sprinklers [was] drained to prevent this from happening until we can figure out where to go from there."

Russo had no idea the pipes burst and came into her apartment to find a wreck. Since then, the carpets have been replaced, the drywall and ceilings were repaired and some rooms were repainted because of severe water damage.  Russo said that when she came back, it looked like there was no ceiling at all because it had been ripped open to allow access to fix the damage.

Russo and her roommates received a call from their Resident Assistant informing them that they would be provided a room to share at the Nathan Hale Inn while the damages were fixed.

Brian Wells, the general manager at the Nathan Hale Inn, said he was pleased to assist ResLife and accommodate students in the hotel. 

"We were happy to have ResLife make reservations for the students," Wells said. "It's a good resource for ResLife and students when they do have these types of problems because of the on-campus location."

According to Kirk, 25 out of the 32 students that were affected stayed at the Nathan Hale Inn. The other seven either went home or stayed at a friend's residence.

Alexis Penney, a 5th-semester dietetics major, shares the apartment with Russo and said she was happy with the way the problem has been handled.

"Everyone's been really helpful and nice," Penney said. "They put everything that got wet in bags and washed it for us."

Penney and Russo have been in and out of the apartment since last Sunday and have been able to move some of their things back into the living room of their apartment.

Besides the interior damage, Penney said her printer is broken and some of her shoes are ruined. 

Students in Foster Hall were able to move back in their apartments on Feb. 4, Armstrong said.

The amount in damage done to the apartments is unknown, but Kirk said ResLife has been working hard to accommodate the students' needs.

"If there were any damages to students' things, they should speak to ResLife and they will work something out," Kirk said.