Caroline Wilkerson ~ Staff Writer
On Sept. 27th, at 11:00 p.m., the ceiling of 333 College Street fell through in one of the bedrooms.
Kyle Gallagher, a junior and resident of the house on college street, said, “I was playing video games in my room downstairs, when I heard a loud crash, almost like the sound of a dropped dresser. I did not think much of it at the time, until I went upstairs and found that the roof had completely fell through.”
Kristen Harkins, also a junior, and present during the incident, said, “I just remember how hot the house was…like really hot. When the ceiling crashed, the AC stopped working.”
The falling ceiling was due to water damage. Gallagher, continued, “We noticed the roof had been leaking…it had been for a while at that point. However, we never once thought that the ceiling would come crashing down as a result of it.”
Gallagher said, “Residence Life and the maintenance crew fixed the roof in about four to five days. They cleaned up all the debris and patched the ceiling up. In the meantime, the students that were staying in that room stayed on the couches in the living room. It was a pretty speedy process.”
According to Lynchburg property records, found on xome.com, 333 College Street was built in 1937. University of Lynchburg maintenance helps maintain these properties despite their old age. In the case that a residence needs help, they can fill out a work order form through their Residence Assistant or contact Residence Life directly at resdidencelife@lynchburg.edu.
As noted on the University of Lynchburg website, one aspect that is unique to the University of Lynchburg is that the school owns more than 90 properties and houses in addition to residence halls, on-campus townhouses and apartments. Students at the university are able to choose their housing based on their ranking in GPA and seniority. Among these Southside properties is 333 College Street.
Senior Abbie Defino, a resident of Southside for two years, said, “I have lived on Southside in both a house and a townhouse. Both contain way more pros and cons, and I love that University of Lynchburg students have the option of living on campus. Although the houses are old and have problems, our RA’s on Southside have been incredibly helpful with submitting work order forms and I am so thankful for that!”