English students walked into a mess of fallen tile and water their first day of class Tuesday in Ortega Hall Room 121, after a leak damaged parts of the ceiling, a UNM official said.
Student Chris Jackson said he wasn’t concerned about his safety during class because he didn’t see active leaks, but the mess was still an eyesore.
“I felt like I walked into a disaster area,” he said.
Large parts of the tiled ceiling fell to the ground and on desks, and a pool of water gathered in the center of the classroom. Students sat in desks around the class’ perimeter to avoid water and plaster.
Mary Vosevich, Physical Plant Department director, said the damage could be a result of work done on the building to increase its water-heating efficiency.
She didn’t provide a specific estimate about how much repairs would cost, but said it could be hundreds of dollars. She said she doesn’t know whether UNM or the contractor working on Ortega Hall will foot the bill.
“If we had some kind of failure, it would be covered with our insurance,” she said. “It could be something with the contractor, but that’s not yet determined.”
Vosevich said the classroom should be clean for classes today. She said UNM doesn’t have plans to remodel Ortega Hall in the near future, but PPD is working on making older buildings, including Ortega Hall, more energy efficient.
“The Physical Plant is focusing on building functionality, particularly in the times of reduced budgets,” she said.
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