The heat is on

Santa Monica College students who attend classes at the Bundy satellite campus can finally stop bundling up on the way to school.  As of last Thursday, the system that provides the building's heat and hot water – which has been inactive for almost a week – has been restored, according to SMC's mechanical systems and energy management supervisor Bruce Wyban. "The Bundy campus heat has been back on since Thursday," Wyban said.

The main gas lines which used to keep the campus heating systems operational were damaged last Saturday, March 19, when a car accident on Bundy Drive left extensive damage to the exposed parts of the system located near the road where the accident occurred.  Since then, students have been layering up to attend classes there, especially during the recent unseasonably cold weather.

Faculty members have taken even greater measures, some of them bringing space heaters into their workspaces to try to combat the cold left by the crippled gas mains.

Although the last couple weeks have been somewhat more uncomfortable for some, other students confessed to hardly noticing the change in temperature, expressing little concern for the Bundy heating system failure.

Failure, however, is something that Wyban and the Southern California Gas Company would not tolerate, repairing the damaged system well ahead of schedule.  During a Corsair interview last week, Wyban had hoped that reconstruction work would be completed by Monday, March 21.  He had reservations, however, about the extent of the damage, and prioritized student safety over expedient heating restoration.  Worries were put to rest, however, when the repairs were completed just days later than expected.

"The repairs were made and the switch was flipped around two ‘o'clock on Thursday," Wyban said.