GREENSBORO, N.C. — North Carolina A&T announced Thursday that heating is being restored to 34 on-campus buildings that have been without heat since Wednesday.
University officials confirmed that the cold weather impacted the steam plant on campus. William Barlow the Associate Vice Chancellor for NC A&T facilities said frigid temperatures froze the steam plant's pipes and valves.
Barlow told WFMY News 2 he anticipates that around 9:30pm heat should be flowing through each building.
WFMY News 2 spoke to students on campus who said they had to evacuate their dorms out of safety precautions.
"I felt comfortable in my room because I had a heater. I got a knock around 1:25 am telling us to evacuate the building. It kind of got hectic trying to find a place to stay," student Tyler Walden said.
Multiple buildings on North Carolina A&T's campus did not have heat after its heating system failed causing the university to suspend classes both Wednesday and Thursday.
University officials confirmed that the cold weather impacted the steam plant on campus. William Barlow the Associate Vice Chancellor for NC A&T facilities said frigid temperatures froze the steam plant's pipes and valves.
"Our older buildings are fed by steam. The steam goes into the building and then we have a mechanical room that converts the steam to heat. Our newer building uses gas heat. It goes to the building and our mechanical room converts the gas to heat," Barlow said.
He said the steam plant's infrastructure is aging and the university plans to fully convert all buildings to gas in the future.
"You're talking about a 40-year-old infrastructure structure," Barlow said, "It's just a very unfortunate situation."
The university said the buildings will be back open at 8 a.m. Friday.
Classes will still be remote Friday to give students a smoother transition.
MORE WAYS TO GET WFMY NEWS 2
Subscribe to our daily newsletter Let’s Get 2 It!
Download the WFMY News 2 APP from your Apple or Google Play store.
ADD THE WFMY+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or search for WFMY.
Amazon Fire TV: Search for WFMY to find the free app to add to your account. You can also add the app directly to your Fire TV through your Amazon account.