The Hole in the Ground

The filled-in hole that was in the quad, with new concrete laid. 

Photo credit: Kayla Korb

By Josiah Horvath

There was a hole in the sidewalk in front of the Link library until April 18 where repairs were made to a pipe, according to Concordia Facilities Director Bill Novak.

Novak said Thom has a central pipe boiler that heats seven buildings on campus, including Link. The boiler connects to the buildings through buried steam lines.

“There was a hole in the pipe that we had to dig up and cut out a chunk of pipe,” he said, “so that we can keep steam running to our buildings who use steam to heat.”

He said the hole in the pipe only affected what he called “old Link Library” and did not impact the rest of the campus. The newer part of the library is heated by a different heating system.

“New Link has its own boiler and we heat it with hot water,” Novak said.

CUNE’s Buildings and Grounds department does not have the machines necessary to fix the pipe so they hired H&S Plumbing out of Lincoln. “We (CUNE) manage the project from knowing where to dig the hole to when it gets filled back in,” he said.

“The hole sucks,” said student Molly Reece. She said that one time it had rained, and she got water in her shoes, because she had to go around the hole. She described the experience as “not fun.”