JazzmanWaterMain-PC_4737The afternoon coffee break came to an abrupt stop Monday afternoon when the waste drain from Barone’s kitchen clogged, causing the pipes to leak and overflow with water into Jazzman’s Café. Jazzman’s was left soggy and ruined, with a hole in the ceiling and water continuing to drip down through the ceiling on the level below it, across from the bookstore.

Junior Alec Duggan was there when it happened, along with six other people standing in line — two adults and four students. He said that two girls were drenched, and one of the women working could only get out by running through the gushing waterfall.

“A huge ball of water just came from the ceiling,” Duggan explained. “Everyone was just shocked. It was the weirdest thing ever.”

After the initial downpour of drain water, people started to complain that the water was smelly and discolored. Duggan said that it was clear at first, but then turned “gross.”

“It smells worse than it is,” Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs Jim Fitzpatrick said of the lingering mess in Jazzman’s. “It was from a waste drain, not a sanitation drain, which is much better,” he explained.

The waste drain water is the wastewater from food and dishwasher liquid from the kitchen in the Barone cafeteria, and not actual sewage water. Pritchard employees were hard at work immediately following the water break, some of them working second shifts or overtime, according to Fitzpatrick.

“Pritchard has been great,” he said. Fitzpatrick also acknowledged that he would be surprised if Jazzman’s opened this week, due to the amount of cleanup required.
Junior Jessica McGrinder, who is interning at Jazzman’s, said, “we’re going to have to throw everything out — it’s all going to be contaminated.”

While Jazzman’s undergoes the massive cleaning process and attempts to fix the hole in the ceiling, the Stag will be open at 8 a.m. to accommodate the morning rush of students who need caffeine before class.

David Frassinelli, the assistant vice president and director of Facilities Management, issued a statement, “The issue was a clogged floor drain that leaked to the floor below. It was cleaned by Roto Rooter and functional by 8 p.m. Dinner was served as normal. Cafeteria prep areas and dish washing was fully functional by 8pm.”

“I believe paper products were used for breakfast so they could catch up on dish washing. We plan to commence the repairs to the drywall ceiling tomorrow and complete this week. It is up to Sodhexo to determine when they plan to re-open Jazzman’s,” Frassinelli added.

Lily Norton contributed to this report.

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