The University of Akron held regularly scheduled classes Thursday night despite a broken steam line that cut heat to about 40 buildings on campus.
Students and faculty were advised to dress in warmer clothing.
The Department of Physical Facilities staff reported that a high-pressure hot water line ruptured on the east side of campus near Rhodes Arena Thursday afternoon.
The steam was reportedly shooting hundreds of feet into the air.
Workers were still on site Thursday evening. Heat was expected to be restored to most buildings by 9 or 10 p.m.
UA officials said the Student Recreation and Wellness Center and Ocasek Natatorium would be without heat or hot water for a longer period, but both buildings would remain open and all events and classes would continue as scheduled.
The university relies on steam to provide heat to some campus buildings, according to a spokesman for UA.
One student said he was walking to the library and saw a huge puff of steam but thought it was coming from a manhole. As he got closer, he saw it was worse.
“I was actually pretty close enough to see the dirt shooting out and hear it. There was no maintenance crew there and then like five minutes later police and maintenance came,” said UA sophomore Peter Nguyen, 19, who is studying exercising science. “I thought the sight was spectacular. I could not estimate how high the steam was, but in general it went up pretty high.”
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.