Flood forces CRC to close

Students hoping to get in an early workout Wednesday morning were surprised to find the Campus Recreation Center (CRC) temporarily closed because of a sprinkler flooding a basketball court late Tuesday night.

“[Tuesday] night somewhere around 10:30 to 11:00 p.m. someone kicked a basketball in the gymnasium and knocked off a sprinkler head. Water started pouring out and blanketed the northwest portion of the wood floor with a tremendous amount of water. At that point the fire alarm went off and we evacuated the CRC,” Edwards said.

Once the alarm went off the Georgia Tech Police Department, Atlanta Fire Department and Facilities responded to turn off the water and check the building. Edwards said that it took approximately 20 to 30 minutes from when the sprinkler went off for it to be turned off. “They got here pretty quickly. [The damage] could have been a lot worse,” Edwards said.

However, the damage was not limited to the basketball court as water leaked through to the aquatic center.

“Once the water started getting through the wood floor [it reached] a gap between the concrete floor and the wood. The water then found cracks in the concrete that is the roof to the aquatic center and water started pouring down,” Edwards said.

Student supervisors Alex Klaas and Mike Schuler handled the situation after the sprinkler went off and coordinated the evacuation of the building.

“The student supervisors need to be commended for what they did last evening and how they handled the situation and made the right calls. The student staff last night did a very nice job,” Edwards said.

Although the alarm was turned off Thursday evening, the CRC had to be closed Friday morning and afternoon because of safety concerns. “The fire equipment was dysfunctional because of the accident. We got someone to certify that the alarm was ready this morning and we will open again at 4:00 p.m.,” Edwards said on Wednesday afternoon.

Although a timetable for repairs was unavailable at press time, the damage was limited to the one basketball court and the concrete underneath it.

“Basketball court six will be out of commission for a while and we don’t know when it will be ready. The insurance company has been great and Facilities has been great. Right now the objective is to pull up the floor on court six to get the water out. [Facilities is] starting that now. [One] dance studio may also be out of commission. [The floor must be pulled up] quickly to avoid further damage,” Edwards said.

Edwards said that for the time being the aquatic center will be open and operational.

“Once we get the floor dried out, this weekend a contractor will come in and begin repairs on the aquatic center ceiling. We are hoping to start Saturday. We will have to make adjustments [on who has access to the pool and when] based on them getting that done,” he said.