Thanks to quick and effective action by the school’s maintenance staff, a water main break was repaired overnight and all classes met on their regular schedule on Jan. 10.

Students and teachers were notified at the end of the school day on Jan. 9 that bathrooms were out of order due to a waterline break discovered around 1 p.m., said Mr. Jim McLinn ’70, vice president for operations. School officials immediately contacted Citizens Energy Group and Johnson Melloh.

“Citizens Every Group discovered the shutoff was in the Windridge neighborhood, found it and turned it off,” McLinn said.

By later that afternoon, Johnson Melloh began its digging to locate the problem and was successful between 1 and 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 10. The golf ball-sized hole was part of a pipe buried 17 feet deep. By 5 a.m. on Jan. 10, the hole was patched.

As of 11 a.m. on Jan. 10, water was running, but the residual effects of the previously turned-off water may involve a few sinks and toilets clogged by accumulated residue, McLinn said. Now, plumbers must tend to each individual sink and toilet. Plumbers are carrying out this work. “Cunningham and Loretto are good to go,” McLinn said. The science floor has also been completed, and plumbers will progress to the main floor and finally the Student Life Center.

The goal is to have all bathrooms clean and operating by noon on Jan. 10, McLinn said.

In an email to the faculty and staff, Principal Mr. Dave Worland praised the work of McLinn; Mr. Kurt Johnson, EMS supervisor; and Johnson Melloh for all the work they did to address the problem and to ensure that the campus was in good shape for classes to meet on Jan. 10.

As a result of the water problem, the women’s basketball City tournament game against Bishop Chatard that was scheduled for Jan. 9 was moved to Chatard, and a men’s freshman basketball game was canceled.