At the beginning of the semester, walkable routes to public transport and health services are blocked by construction work.
A ruptured hot water service pipe resulted in construction work on the right side of the J. Paul Leonard Library. Repairs began on Wednesday, February 1, according to Associate Vice President of Facilities Services Robert Andrews.
A GGX reporter first spotted the leak on Tuesday January 24th. The original source of the leak is unclear, but it began a week before students returned to classes for Spring 2023.
Students began to circumvent the spout by walking on the lawn as construction fences blocked the sidewalk.
The way from the quad to the health center is also blocked by construction work.
“I think it’s a water leak and they’re changing some hoses,” said Oscar Portillo, a seven-year facility services employee. “They’re fixing water lines, which I assume will last another two or three weeks, but I’m not sure.”
Now that the path is closed, the students have to take a detour to get to the health center.
“I just turned up and it was closed. They didn’t even put out a notice or anything, which would have been nice,” said Alejandra Díaz, a fourth-year student majoring in recreation, parks and tourism. “For new students, it’s more of an inconvenient thing. I don’t know why it wasn’t done during the break.”
New and returning students were never informed of the precautionary measure for either site. The health center was contacted but did not comment on the lockdown.
“It was surprising that it was there. Many students come and go, and now they have to go all the way,” said Yazmin Rodriguez, a second-year student specializing in child and adolescent development. “I have an appointment there and they haven’t said anything about what’s going on there.”
[Additional reporting by Letícia Luna]
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Students walk around and past the maintenance barrier in front of the J. Paul Leonard Library at SF State on Thursday, February 9, 2023 as student organizations set up a table in the background. (Miguel Francesco Carrion / Golden Gate Xpress)
