$178,000 project will replace building's steam, water pipes
Students and faculty at Wardlaw College and the Blatt P.E. Center will finally have improved heating and cooling by the end of this year if all goes according to maintenance plan.
A $178,000 utility infrastructure improvement project aims to replace nearly 2,000 feet of steam and chilled water lines at Wardlaw and Blatt. Constant steam flow through these lines over the past two decades has caused deterioration in the pipes, which has in turn lessened the 80- and 40-year-old buildings’ heating and cooling capability, according to Vice President for Facilities Tom Quasney.
“Mechanical systems in general will last 15 to 25 years if properly maintained,” Quasney wrote in an email response.
Construction is currently underway for new lines at Wardlaw to an underground vault that was installed last summer, while the final installation of the project at Blatt will commence this July, when Blatt’s facilities directors have agreed to cut the steam to the building to make the repairs, according to Quasney.
Quasney said the buildings will continue to have steam and chilled water while the projects are completed, as they can be rerouted into the buildings from several of the university’s 30 utility plants.
Several other major projects will also affect heating and cooling in buildings around campus. Such projects are already under way at McKissick Museum, Booker T. Washington Complex and Petigru College, and will also begin at Davis College and Spigner House this summer.