DANBURY, Connecticut — Late in the evening of January 18, 2024, the Western Connecticut State University Westside campus experienced a major water main break adjacent to the Classroom Building. Representatives from the Danbury Fire Department and the Danbury Water Division, alongside WCSU Police officers and WCSU Facilities staff, responded to the scene, assessed the situation and began repairs and restorative work. Initially, to limit the damage caused by water leakage and for safety reasons, water was turned off for the entire campus. To minimize disruption to WCSU residential students on the Westside campus, the Housing and Residential Life staff worked with WCSU responders to meet any contingencies and to address the prospect of moving the affected residential students. As a result of highly coordinated work across several agencies, the water main repairs were completed within a few hours. Due to the efficient planning and diligent work of responders, the temporary disruption in the water supply did not have a significant adverse impact on students.
The Westside Classroom Building sustained significant damage from the water main break as it is located on a hill underneath which the breakage took place. A large amount of water infiltrated into the first, second and third floors. WCSU staff are currently assessing the damage and inspecting the building to ensure its safety. It is expected to take several days of work in order to be able to declare the building safe. During this period, the building is cordoned off except for facilities staff and remediation contractors.
The WCSU Acting Provost, Brian Vernon, has elected to make all the classes scheduled to be held in the building virtual for the week of January 22 – 26. Existing computer labs in the Westside Campus Center and Visual and Performing Arts Center remain open as normally scheduled. All other buildings on the Westside campus are also functioning as usual. To ensure that students have access to computing technology without disruption, additional computer labs are being made available on the Midtown campus, including in the Haas Library. The university is examining the possibility of creating additional temporary computer labs on the Westside campus to facilitate offering of virtual classroom sessions. Visit the WCSU homepage for continuous updates, including any additional changes to class schedules.
The entire WCSU community came together in response to this incident in an exemplary fashion. Despite the enormity of the challenge, the students, faculty, and staff, working together, were able to help the campus return to normalcy within a few hours.
For more information, contact WCSU Communications and Marketing at pr@wcsu.edu.
Western Connecticut State University changes lives by providing all students with a high-quality education that fosters their growth as individuals, scholars, professionals and leaders in a global society. Our vision: To be widely recognized as a premier public university with outstanding teachers and scholars who prepare students to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.