On January 19, residents of MCLA’s Flagg Townhouses moving back onto campus after winter break were met with an unwelcome surprise: many units had little to no heat. Heating line failures in multiple apartments have left many students struggling with the winter weather and, a month later, repairs are still ongoing.
For the first few days after students returned to campus, complaints about the heating issues were met with little credence, and on January 21, a mass email was sent out to residents reminding them that all furniture must be at least a foot away from the radiators. “This assures that the heat will be able to rise and fully warm the surrounding area,” explained the notice from Residence Life and Housing.
As more complaints came rolling in, however, it didn’t take long for campus administration to see they had a much larger issue on their hands than a few incidents of user error.
“There was no air even coming out of the radiators in our townhouse,” said one student, who asked to remain anonymous. “I’ve lived in townhouses before, and they’ve been cold sometimes, but they’ve never just not had air coming out.”
On January 23, two days after the first email was sent out, Res Life sent out another email with the subject line: “VERY IMPORTANT TOWNHOUSE HEAT-RELATED MESSAGE: please read!” In it, they announced a problem with the water lines that run through the radiators in some apartments had been discovered, causing the lack of heat.
“To rectify this problem,” the message stated, “Facilities staff will need to install new valves in all of the radiators in Phase II (apts. T37-88 and T91).” At the end of this email, they offered an accommodation to students without heat, urging them to reach out for a temporary relocation into Berkshire Towers.
The offer for accommodations assuaged some fears. However, students were left with more questions than before. No answers were provided as to when the repairs would be taking place, how long they would take, or how long they’d be relocated if they chose to utilize the offered accommodations.
Some students took to emailing Res Life in an attempt to get answers. The result was another mass email sent out, informing students that there was not yet a plan as to which townhouses would be repaired on what days, but that repairs would begin in E-Block. “I will send out more specific information when I receive it,” promised Dianne Manning, Director of Housing Operations, before reminding students that they had access to housing accommodations, if need be.
As more winter storms filled the forecast, and townhouse residents still living with little to no heat, anxiety grew about repairs and the frustrating vagueness surrounding the situation. Students still had no information as to how long those repairs would take or when repairs would be started on the next townhouses.
“I get they might not know what’s going on either, but it still sucks that they can’t give us any more information. I wish we could just know when things will be fixed,” said another anonymous student.
The college administration found themselves in a tricky situation, trying to remedy and repair the issues quickly, while keeping students informed. Attempts were made by The Beacon to obtain a statement from Manning, who directed the request to Bernadette Alden, Director of Marketing and Communications at MCLA.
Alden accepted the request for a public statement, providing the following statement to The Beacon in an email on February 3:
“The Facilities department in conjunction with Res Life & Housing has mounted a project to repair the heating lines in the Flagg Townhouse Apartment Complex. The college has hired an outside contractor to expedite the project, and the goal is to repair the heating lines in every apartment in Phase II of the Townhouses (T37-T92) as swiftly as possible. Students are notified in advance of their apartment repair so they can prepare accordingly. If any resident is experiencing a heat issue prior to being notified, they are encouraged to contact the Facilities department or Residence Life and Housing.”
In accordance with Alden’s promises of advance-notice, late on February 8, residents of the D-block section of MCLA’s townhouses received an email informing them that repair work on the heating line repairs in their section would be taking place on Monday, February 10, between the hours of 9:00 AM and 3:30 PM. They were told to move furniture away from radiators and empty their closets, prior to this time.
In the fray of repairs, students’ responses been a mixed bag.
“I mean, people are always gonna be mad about something but it’s not the school’s fault these problems suddenly happened. It was chaotic because we had like no information, but it’s not like the school has all the answers right away,” said Ethan Wood, ‘27.
Another student, Michael Lynch, ‘26, expressed frustration, saying “They’re doing a fairly good job at keeping us in the loop about the steps being taken, but I feel ill-informed. I’ve had to rearrange my bedroom and living room three times, because they’ve continued to postpone my townhouse’s repairs.”
On February 11th, Res Life and Housing sent out another email announcing the repairs on the D-Block heating system would be wrapped up within the next few days. “Facilities staff will be checking every apartment each day to make sure that no additional air blockages have occurred. We appreciate your patience and cooperation with the final days of inspection. Many thanks,” Manning’s emailed closed.
According to a celebratory email from Manning on February 14, repairs have been completed in all affected townhouses. Reslife staff extended a thank you to residents, saying “Many thanks to all of you for helping to get this necessary project completed.”
“It will be nice to have a warm home now that this is fixed, this has been a going issue,” stated Madeleine Straw, ‘26.
Jacqueline Cohen,‘26, added: “I’m glad they’ve gotten things done and things will finally get back to normal.”
Another student, Monica Thyme, ‘26, said, “This was an inconvenience. . . but I’m glad that issues are getting solved.”
However, despite the project’s ending, some students continue to face heating concerns and have been given temporary housing or space heaters to use until their issues can be addressed further.
For most townhouse residents, finally, there is an end in sight, and with an answer to their problems, much of the frustration and anger has deflated.
