College to Repair Electrical Grid on Campus

03/13/2013 

A planned power outage will close eight upper campus buildings and eliminate cable television service for the entire campus on Friday and Saturday, March 15-16.

 The shutdown will allow SUNY Cortland to make repairs to critical campus electrical infrastructure during the student spring break, when campus operations will face the least disruption.

The buildings will be without power and the whole campus without cable starting around 7 a.m. Friday/ Electricians will assess and fix electrical lines inside two manholes located along the Moffett Center fire lane. The project is expected to last two full days through Saturday, March 16.

The affected facilities are the Miller Building, Brockway Hall, Cheney Hall, DeGroat Hall, Moffett Center, Memorial Library, Dowd Fine Arts Center and Sperry Center.

Sperry Center includes signal amplification equipment needed for cable service throughout the campus, so its closure will cut cable television service to all campus buildings, not just the ones closed for the planned outage.  

Internet service will still be available on campus, other than in the buildings the won’t have power.

 The administration will close access to those buildings to all non-essential College employees for both days. All facilities will be without power for heat, electricity and the operation of many office machines. The Human Resources Office has contacted faculty and staff who work in those buildings regarding options for the two days, such as working from an alternative location.

The work is not expected to affect the timetable for students returning from break to finish the semester. Spring semester classes will resume at 8 a.m. on Monday, March 18.

Hilltop, the dining facility located in Brockway Hall, will be closed on Friday. No other dining halls will be open on campus due to the student break. College employees are encouraged to make other dining plans during the power outage. All dining units will reopen at their regular times on Monday.

Memorial Library, which had previously planned to be closed on Saturday, but is now scheduled to be closed Friday as well. On Friday, users may have access to some resources through My Red Dragon. Questions about technology and other library information may be sent through the IRSC ticketing system. Staff will answer inquiries as they are able. Research and reference assistance is available round-the-clock through www.AskUs24/7. The link is found at library.cortland.edu on the left side of the page.

SUNY Cortland’s physical plant staff determined the repair work was needed in the wake of a power outage on the lower campus that occurred on Monday, Feb. 25. Repairs to the affected power grid adjacent to Clark Hall were completed Saturday, March 2.

The College is midway through a five-year project to replace all major electrical wiring outside the buildings on the main campus with more effective equipment.