Cody Cousino / For The Lantern
Road closures and leaking buildings were the result of thunderstorms that rolled through Ohio State’s campus Monday.
Most of the problems were cleaned up Monday, but for the areas with minor flooding, OSU spokeswoman for Administration and Planning Lindsay Komlanc said in an email that work will continue this week and should be wrapped by Saturday. She added that an assessment will be made at that point as to whether the areas require further work.
Komlanc said there were multiple campus areas that reported leakage, including Smith and Steeb Halls, Baker Hall, Kennedy and North Commons, Nosker House, McCracken, Bricker Hall and St. John Arena.
Who was in charge of cleaning up the leakage varied from building to building, with the South High Rise Renovation contractor, Smoot Construction, responsible for Smith and Steeb Halls’ water in the basement, Student Life teams in charge at Baker Hall and North and Kennedy Commons with assistance-as-needed from a university contractor who specializes in “remediation for flooding” such as dehumidification and general drying, Facilities and Development taking care of and monitoring McCracken, Bricker Hall and the practice field behind Lincoln Tower, and Athletics handling clean-up of St. John Arena “if needed,” Komlanc said.
The contractor assisting the Student Life teams is Belfor, a company the university uses as needed, Komlanc said.
“There is no retaining fee to keep Belfor on contract. We call them when we need assistance and then are billed for the services we use. The contract is to assure that we have a company to call for assistance when needed,” Komlanc said in an email.
There were also reports of leakage from the roof in Mount Hall, where there is an ongoing project to replace the roof that was started at the beginning of the summer and is expected to be finished in the fall, Komlanc said.
The Veterinary Hospital experienced a water leak that damaged the fire alarm system. The building was being monitored by a Public Safety individual on site, but the alarm was fixed by 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Komlanc said in an email.
She said Monday the cost for any more permanent damage the rain might have caused is unknown.
“Our first priority is always to remove the water and dry the areas. Any assessments for cost will be done at a later time,” Komlanc said.
