After about five months of renovations due to extensive water damage, Cabrini University plans to reopen Woodcrest Hall, a residence hall that has been housing students of Cabrini since 1969.
“Woodcrest Hall will reopen on Friday, Aug. 26,” Dawn Barnett, director of facilities, said.
Five months forward, the Cabrini community has now almost completed the renovations to this residence hall and will welcome the incoming freshman class of 2020 as planned on new student move-in day.
The official Cabrini University Twitter and Instagram accounts have affirmed this as well, posting pictures of some of the completed rooms with the caption, “Pictures of the newly renovated Woodcrest Hall. Ready for move in! #GoCabrini!”
Not only were renovations made to fix the water damage, but some new amenities were added as well. This includes air conditioning, something Woodcrest has never before had, making every residence hall on Cabrini’s campus now air conditioned.
“The major improvements that have been made to Woodcrest include an upgraded electrical system, air conditioning in each room, new furnishings, new flooring throughout the building, LED lighting, a new fire alarm system and new ceilings,” Barnett said.
In addition to these improvements, the Residence Life suite is now located within Woodcrest. The suite includes three offices and a reception desk.
“The entire building was painted and a new handicap ramp was also added to the front of the building,” Barnett said.
The renovations took place due to a flood that occurred on Friday, March 4, during the time students had off for their spring break. The incident occurred when one of the lacrosse players staying on Cabrini’s campus at the time had been playing a game of “wall ball.”
When a lacrosse ball hit one of the sprinklers on the ceiling, all of the sprinklers simultaneously began to go off throughout the building. Moments later, a water pipe burst on the first floor of Woodcrest.
By the time public safety arrived at Woodcrest to stop the water from flooding that evening, there already had been two inches of water flooding the first and second tile floors of Woodcrest hall.
Students living in Woodcrest at the time had to be relocated to different residential buildings throughout campus. By Monday, March 7, all freshman students living in Woodcrest at the time were relocated to either Xavier Residence Hall, East Residence Hall, West Residence Hall or one of the seven houses.
Woodcrest was one of three residence halls that housed freshman at the time, which made the relocation process more difficult because some of the freshmen had to be relocated into buildings that only typically housed upperclassmen.
