A slow and problematic leak in a waterline at the WTAMU Virgil Henson Activities Center prompted WT to close the center on Sunday, Feb. 17, until the waterline was replaced.

“The waterline we had has a slow leak,” Tadhi Hayes, director of Engineering/Architectural Services, said. “We’re just replacing it with a new one. Then we made a secondary feed into the building so we can feed it off of two water sources.”

The VHAC was closed for an entire day for the replacement of the waterline as the workers completely shut off all of the water in the building, greatly affecting the day to day operations of the VHAC.

“The reason it had to be closed is because they completely shut off the water,” Bill Craddock, director of Recreational Sports, said. “We wouldn’t have operational bathrooms or showers, and if a guest were to get sick, we would have no way to clean it up. There were also health and safety concerns.”

Sunday was chosen as the day to close the VHAC because it did not have many scheduled events for the day that would need to be rescheduled. The weather also played a role in their decision to close the VHAC. With a high temperature of 70 degrees and sunny, students were encouraged to utilize the Buffalo Sports Park.

“I like to go the activities center to work out and run on Sundays,” Lanie Hazle, a sophomore Advertising/Public Relations student, said. “I was a little bummed that it would be closed. But since it was such a nice day, I went to one of the intramural fields and ran.”

The workers completed the replacement of the waterline in their scheduled time, and the VHAC reopened at regular hours on Monday.