Chicago State University resumed classes Thursday afternoon after school leaders initially canceled school for the day because of heating problems.
Leaders of the Far South Side school sent out an emergency alert late Wednesday saying the campus would be shut down all day Thursday. The short message said the campus would be closed due to "declining temperatures in buildings." The alert also was posted on the school’s website.
Another university message went out just after 8 a.m. saying the campus was open and classes would restart at 2 p.m. The notice said some university services would be limited, though it was not immediately clear what would be affected.
Chicago State spokeswoman Sabrina Land said Thursday morning the boilers had been shut down for repairs overnight. She did not respond to requests for more information about what fixes were needed and why.
"We thought the work would resume through today however, the work crew is done, and classes and university operations have resumed," Land said in an email around 9 a.m.
Faculty Union President Robert Bionaz said students and faculty had returned to campus and classes were being held as of 3 p.m.
This is the third problem Chicago State has had with its heating systems in recent months.
Facilities Director Monique Horton told the board of trustees in December that her department provided service and parts to two campus generators in the fall. Then the university’s heating plant generator malfunctioned in early December. Horton said in a campuswide message that the school would hire contractors and obtain backup boilers in case of equipment failure.
Chicago State has had other utility problems throughout the year. Underground piping failed in September, cutting off hot water to the dorm and the student union building for at least two weeks. Board trustees approved a contract to temporarily fix the problem, which was to cost more than $900,000.
The university has struggled to operate through the state’s budget standoff. The school has received only about $32.7 million in state funding for the past 18 months, compared with the $36.3 million it received in 2015, the last year of full state funding for Illinois’ colleges and universities.
Chicago State’s backlog of delayed maintenance work continues to grow. More than $59 million is needed to make all the necessary repairs, replacements and upgrades, according to university documents.
Chicago State, along with Western and Eastern Illinois universities, received emergency funding from the Illinois Board of Higher Education in November, the equivalent of about one month’s payroll to help tide over each school.
But a review of Chicago State’s finances showed its portion of the funding, $3 million, still would not be enough to finish the year.
In response to questions from the Tribune, university leaders said they could cut another $9.6 million in spending to finish the semester with money in the bank. They said about $6.6 million in those cuts were to maintenance, including repairing emergency generators instead of replacing them and canceling library roof repairs.
drhodes@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @rhodes_dawn
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