GREENSBORO, N.C. — Multiple buildings on North Carolina A&T's campus do not have heat after its heating system failed Wednesday, causing the university to suspend classes.
The university said the cold weather impacted the steam plant on campus and repair work could not be completed before the weekend so, class is canceled Thursday and students will have remote instruction on Friday.
The university made arrangements for students to have a warm place to sleep until the meantime.
Aggies are speaking out about the heating issues and how it's affecting them as it could not have happened at a worse time.
The Triad is experiencing some of the coldest days this winter.
"I was shivering in my sleep last night it was that cold," freshman Je'hanna Mclaughlin said.
"We are over here freezing I had to take a birdbath shower," freshman Nailah Carter shared.
School leaders said extremely cold temperatures overnight caused pipes to burst and other equipment with their steam heating system to malfunction.
"Our older buildings are fed by steam. The steam goes into the building and then we have a mechanical room that converts the steam to heat. Our newer building uses gas heat. It goes to the building and our mechanical room converts the gas to heat," William Barlow the Associate Vice Chancellor for NC A&T facilities said.
He said the steam plant's infrastructure is aging and the university plans to fully convert all buildings to gas in the future.
"You're talking about a 40-year-old infrastructure structure," Barlow said, "It's just a very unfortunate situation."
Now, more than 30 campus buildings are without heat.
"The situation has been fully assessed by our facilities personnel the parts are on their way here it's a matter of how quickly they can get here and how quickly the repair work can be done." Associate Vice Chancellor for Unversity Relations, Todd Simmons shared.
With no set day or time for when dorm rooms reheat sophomore Matthew Johnson said he's opened his apartment up to some of his friends.
"I invited them over so they can chill with us until they get things situated," Johnson said.
The school is encouraging students to go home if they can.
For those who can't, the university is moving dorm students to off-campus housing owned by the university or hotels.
They've also canceled classes on Thursday and will go remote Friday.
University leaders said they hope to have repairs complete by the weekend.
Those who work in other buildings affected are directed to call their supervisors about alternative work options for the rest of the week.
NC A&T said the affected buildings are:
- Barbee Hall
- Barnes Hall
- Benbow Hall
- Brown Hall
- Campbell Hall
- Carver Hall
- Cooper Hall
- Corbett Gym
- Craig Hall
- Curtis Hall
- Dowdy Building
- Fort IRC
- Frazier Hall
- Gibbs Hall
- Graham Hall
- Haley Hall
- Harrison Auditorium
- Hines Hall
- Hodgin Hall
- Holland Hall
- Marteena Hall
- McNair Hall
- Merrick Hall
- Monroe Hall
- Moore Gym
- Morrow Hall
- New Science Building
- Noble Hall
- Price Hall
- Smith Hall
- Speight Hall
- University Galleries
- Vanstory Hall
- Williams Cafeteria
School officials said these buildings still have heat:
- Academic Classroom Building
- Aggie Suites
- Aggie Terrace
- Aggie Village - Halls 1 through 6
- Alumni Foundation Event Center
- Annex Building
- Blount Health Center
- Bryan Fitness Complex
- Campus Recreation Center
- Coltrane Hall
- DeHuguley Building
- Environmental Health and Safety Building
- ERIC Building
- F.D. Bluford Library
- Pride Hall
- Proctor Hall
- Student Center
- Ward Hall
NC A&T buildings without heat
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