Photo by Sunny Chen
L-building construction seeks to fix leaks
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Arriving at school after a week of Thanksgiving break, many students noticed the construction site located on the east side of the L-building on campus.
Assistant Principal of Business and Activities, Matthew Dultz said that “over Thanksgiving break, [staff members] found that a large pipe underground cracked at its joint due to how old the pipelines were,” causing the water inside to burst underground.
“It got to the point where it was saturated and was brought to attention that there had been a leak,” Dultz said. “The leak posed a hazard to the water pressure in the bathrooms and also would cause the concrete above the pipes to cave in, creating an unsafe area for students and staff if not removed and replaced.”
Fencing now surrounds the site of construction, posing as an inconvenience for students during passing periods.
“The fencing area may cause a bit of a congestion, but I guarantee it would be of much bigger inconvenience if you fell in a hole,” Dultz said.
Contrary to the idea that the school pays for new improvements on campus, Dultz said that “this is something that had to take place; it wasn’t the school wanting to replace the pipes, but rather something that needed to be worked on.”
“All construction is funded by the district facilities,” Dultz said. “Everything is handled on the District’s end, including contractors, when a problem is brought to attention.”
Dultz also mentioned that the pipes were intended to be repaired and the concrete repaved during the first weekend of December; however, due to previous weather conditions, construction was delayed.
Before the leak happened, there had already been numerous recurring problems within the L-building’s girls bathroom, such as the mucky sink water. However, Dultz assures that the matter has been brought up many times in the past—to the extent where countless tests have been conducted by health professionals; each test concluded that the water was safe. As for the cloudy component, Dultz said that it was caused by calcium deposits in the water, which were also a past concern on the campus’ athletic field.
Dultz plans oversee the construction’s progress until completed.
