Student dorm at WKU to receive HVAC repairs after months without air conditioning

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Residents of Pearce Ford Tower at Western Kentucky University have been without air conditioning in their dorms since the beginning of the semester. After receiving a temporary fix, things now seem to be on the up and up.

The HVAC system in the residence hall has been down since the school year started and students have had to deal with some hot temperatures, with some rooms reaching temperatures as high as 90 degrees. The university offered temporary housing for some students in Rhodes Harlan Hall while they resolved the issue.

The university is getting to work solving the problem as they have brought in a temporary unit to keep the residence hall cool while they get to the heart of the issue.

Tad Pardude, spokesperson of The Student Life Foundation, provided this statement regarding the timeline of the fix:

“This week, there will be a T&B consultant testing the whole system, both cooling and heating. Once that is complete, repairs will begin on the exchanger and any other components with issues identified in the T&B process. I am told the goal is to have repairs complete by late October, but that is without knowing the T&B results, which could cause the date to fluctuate one way or the other.”

The entire process has been trying on students as they try to balance classes and the heat problem.

Sophomore Kaleb Wininger, who moved temporarily into Rhodes Harlan, stated it was an “inconvenience.”

Wininger said, “I mean, you’re living out of a suitcase. Everything you moved into hoping that this is going to be your new home coming this upcoming school year. But instead you have to lug everything out of a suitcase and just live out of, you know, a room with some random person you never even met before for two weeks.”

Now that there is a temporary fix and a plan set in motion, residents are starting to feel a bit better about the situation as there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Since the AC has been out, WKU has offered PFT residents free water, Kona Ice, Chaney’s ice cream and fans if needed.

News 40 will provide more information as it is released.