Frozen pipe bursts close academic building at CSU in Fort Collins

Recent extreme cold temperatures led to flooding at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, and repairs were needed due to frozen fan coils bursting, the university posted in a memo on its website. 

The B and C wings of the Clark Building were closed on Tuesday due to the frozen pipes that burst at those locations. This damage was originally noticed by facility management on Christmas Eve.

According to CSU, the Clark building will be closed and locked to everyone so crews can continue to work toward repair. CSU police are patrolling the building, and CSU Safety and Risk Services personnel are also there for fire watch.

Other campus buildings, including the Student Recreation Center, Biology, the Lory Student Center and Canvas Stadium were also impacted by frozen pipes, but those buildings are not closed.  

CSU released a statement Tuesday saying in part, "CSU did take measures to prepare for the onset of the storm. These steps included reducing outside air levels and increased return air levels, as both contributed to recirculate heated air within buildings to conserve the energy required to heat buildings; preparing the District Energy Plant to prepare for cold temperatures; and deploying custodial employees to monitor building conditions. Additionally, extra heaters were placed on site at the Foothills campus for facilities used to care for horses."

The statement also pointed out, "Heat and electricity were operational throughout the week. Because of the fast work and responsiveness of CSU's facilities employees, leaks were stabilized, and further damage was prevented. CSU employees have been focused over the past few days on clean up and repair and will continue their efforts to be ready for the start of the spring semester in January. We want to thank our incredible, hard-working staff for their excellent work this week to minimize any damage and keep the campus in good shape."