On the first weekend of November, College Park will temporarily close to repair damaged plumbing pipes that have recently caused unpleasant odors throughout the building.
The smell, noticed by several students, is attributed by the Cal State Fullerton Auxiliary Services (ASC) to older, damaged plumbing pipes.
“I’ve been noticing it, and it’s getting harder and harder to get it out of my head,” said first-year computer information systems major Uche Anyiam.
ASC officials note that the issue has been present for the past couple of weeks and that they have been working on resolving it.
ASC has been going to College Park after hours on weekends to work on the plumbing issues, noting that there is a lot of plumbing pipe they need to get through.
Over the past weekend, ASC went in to repair and replace the damaged pipes, stating in an email to the Daily Titan that there has been a significant improvement in the odor, which has started to dissipate.
Officials note that the process can be difficult because many of the plumbing lines are in hard-to-reach areas.
ASC still needs to repair a main plumbing line residing in the building’s basement. The repair will require shutting off the building’s power because the pipe is near a main electrical panel. All floors will be closed on the weekend of Nov. 7-8, and no access to the building will be permitted.
These plumbing pipes serve the restrooms in College Park and, because of their age, have begun to develop cracks, resulting in the odor.
“The pipes are original to the building,” wrote ASC Associate Executive Director Tony Lynch in an email to the Daily Titan. “Much like many streets that develop sinkholes, only to find out the pipes beneath the surface are approximately 100 years old”
Repairs will continue after this plumbing issue in the basement is addressed and will continue until work on all 10 floors of the building is completed.
However, Lynch added that the odor will no longer be an issue amid the repairs, saying that as of Monday morning, it is no longer present throughout the building.
CSUF students who frequently spend time in the College Park building for their classes also say they have noticed the smell and are glad to see that it is being addressed.
“I really don’t like going in there,” said second-year American studies major Danielle Espino. “I don’t want to smell like that and I don’t want to inhale it, because I don’t know what it is.”