Students won't have access to Texas Tech University's swimming pool at the Robert H. Ewalt Student Recreation Center due to a water pipe explosion beneath the building, the Daily Toreador reports.
The news source states chunks of the center's pool deck has fallen off from the pipe burst, and mud has formed around the pool due to ground exposure. The pool will reportedly be closed for 30 days while university crews fix the leak. However, April Rhoads, a supervisor for the recreation center pools, told the paper she expects it to take longer than that, as authorities still don't know the full extent of the damage.
Melissa Hogle, the school's assistant director of aquatics for recreational sports, told the newspaper, "We have very little information right now. This pipe is buried pretty deep, probably under 12 feet of dirt. That's a big problem because we can't see where it is, and until we do, we won't be able to assess the damage." She added the school is unsure what caused the plumbing leak.
According to School Designs, the recreation center was completed in 2001 and cost the school nearly $10 million.


