By now, it’s pretty evident that there is an issue with the bathrooms in the Shiel Student Life Center, given the number of days in the last month the SLC has been closed. 

Chief Operating Officer Mr. Rolly Landeros explained the problem with the SLC, the root issue being the failure of the old lift station. A lift station is typically the underground tank where sewage is stored and then pumped out from there to the city’s sewage system.

All of Cathedral’s campus plumbing, minus that of Cunningham and the SLC, run into the same lift station. Cunningham and the SLC both have separate lift stations to make up for their lower elevations. 

The SLC’s lift station is cracked on both the bottom and top and the backup pump is no longer working. This means that if the main pump is clogged, then there is nothing to pump the water to the city sewage system. The sewage would then build up in the lift station, and well, the SLC floor knows the rest.

As the lift system repair is not an easy fix, it will not be able to occur until spring break. Until then, Landeros said that we will have to “minimize the use of the SLC bathrooms.” He said that he plans to allow use of 50% of all bathrooms in the SLC building until the lift system is repaired.

Editor’s note: Reporter Emma Kress contributed to this story.