When the fire alarm sounded throughout the Student Recreation Center Monday evening, many students speculated it was a cruel and immature April Fools’ joke, but what started as a simple fire drill evacuation turned into an hour-long escapade of students attempting to retrieve their belongings from inside the building before heading home.
It turned out the commotion was caused by a fire sprinkler set off by a rock climber who unknowingly jostled a sprinkler on the wall. Water started leaking from the pipe, leading to flooding around the south exit and bouldering section of the rock climbing gym. Students were allowed to enter in small groups to grab their belongings and leave.
Public relations major Alletta Simons said that she and a friend were on their way to the rec center from Global Scholars Hall when they found the building had been evacuated.
“We walked up to see hundreds of students on the right side of the road, a fire truck and three or four cop cars,” Simons said. “It was actually kind of comical because there was people still in their swimsuits and gym clothes.”
The SRC staff announced via mass email and Facebook that the building would be closed until 10 a.m. Tuesday with all activities prior being cancelled. It reopened at 9:45, just in time for 10 o’clock classes and with only a small portion of the rock climbing gym closed off.
“We’ve taken up the flooring that was damaged and now we are in the process of drying it out,” said Molly Kennedy, assistant director for marketing at the rec center. “Part of the rock climbing wall is not going to be available until possibly the end of this week, but the main wall will be open, business as usual.”
Bryan Haunert, associate director for facilities at the rec center, said that the damage left by the leaking water wasn’t as bad as first perceived by the responding service workers.
“The damage is actually pretty minimal. It’s all water damage,” Haunert said. “We have a flooring company coming in tomorrow, and we’re anticipating getting the flooring back in by Thursday and at the latest be up and running Friday.”
With portions of the rock climbing gym closed, bouldering and climbing classes will be forced to squeeze into the remaining area until repairs are complete. Kennedy said that she wishes there was more the staff could do to accommodate students during this inconvenience, but there is little to do with already limited space.
“These things are unfortunately out of our control, and all I can say what we’re doing is trying to get it fully functional as soon as possible,” Kennedy said.