Those on the west side of campus might feel an extra chill this week.

Central heating and cooling systems are closed for eight buildings on the west side of campus until at least Friday.

The physical plant is replacing a deteriorating section of underground pipe that distributes steam and cool water throughout the west area of campus.

“We’re trying to replace 42-year-old underground piping with newer and more reliable piping to keep from having unexpected disasters later down the road,” building systems engineer Paul Lytle said.

The ten buildings without heat are the Duerksen Fine Arts Center, Fiske, Henrion, Morrison, McKinley, Jardine and Wiedemann halls, the Ulrich Museum of Art, McKnight Art Center and Wilner Auditorium.

“They’ve got to do what they’ve got to do,” ceramics graduate student Lars Voltz said.

Voltz has classes in Henrion Hall and said the heating shutdown shouldn’t affect the artwork.

“Things may dry slightly differently, but it’s no different than if it rained one day and didn’t the next,” he said.

Lytle said the pipe replacement is the first of three phases to replace the piping for chilled water, steam and condensate returns for Morrison, Jardine and McKinley. There will be two more phases over the next few years to replace the piping through McKnight.

The decision to shut down heating was made Monday afternoon.

He said the decision was made due to the moderate temperatures in the weekly weather forecast.

“The weather conditions for the upcoming week are about as good as we can expect,” Lytle said. “So we put it together rather hastily tonight.”

Temperatures are expected to be in the upper 60’s for the remainder of the week, with lows in the low 40’s.

“The timing is fortuitous. It’s much better now than if we were in August or December,” Dean of Fine Arts Rodney Miller said. The fine arts department is in Duerksen and Wiedemann.

“I don’t anticipate significant problems,” he said.

Lytle said maintenance on most pipes occur every 40 to 50 years. The last time the pipe was replaced was 42 years ago, in 1971. Lytle said the new pipes will bypass the deteriorating section of pipe, and tie back into the original. He said the project should be done by Friday.

“It’d be longer than three days to fix an unplanned break than it would be to repair a 42-year-old pipe,” Lytle said. “We’re doing this for the better good of the west [side of] campus.”