Gas Leak Displaces Pace Students From Dorms; Return Expected Friday
Students at Pace University were evacuated Wednesday night following a gas leak on the Pleasantville campus.
According to Cara Cea, the assistant director for media relations at Pace, a corroded external gas pipe burst on Wednesday evening due to the cold weather, resulting in the leak. Heat and hot water in two dormitory buildings, as well as in the university townhouses, several offices, the Goldstein Fitness Center and Kessel Student Center had to be shut off to correct the problem.
About 75 percent of the students affected by the sudden lack of heat were able to go home or find a place to stay off campus for the night while about 100 students stayed with friends on the Briarcliff campus. Another 10 slept on cots in the Wilcox gym.
“The students were great, the residential life staff was great. They all rose to the occasion and everyone was helpful and cooperative and everything went smoothly,” Cea said.
As of Thursday morning, heat had been restored to the Goldstein Fitness Center as well as the Kessel Student Center, which had recently been renovated and had been scheduled to celebrate its grand reopening on Thursday morning prior to the incident. A new grand reopening date will be scheduled for a later date, Cea said.
Pace University reported on its website that two contractors are currently in the process of laying a new gas pipe and boilers were being shipped to the campus from Virginia as of Thursday morning. After the boilers arrive in Pleasantville and are installed, heat will be restored to the dormitories as soon as possible. Until then, students will remain at home or on the Briarcliff campus. The students who stayed in the Wilcox gym on Wednesday night were moved to the Briarcliff campus until heat is restored.
It is anticipated that the displaced students will be able to return to their dormitories by Friday night and heat will be restored to all buildings by Monday. Classes continued as scheduled this week since no classroom buildings were affected by the incident.
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