MacKimmie Tower evacuated after sewage backup

By Fabian Mayer, March 6 2015 —

Part of MacKimmie Tower was evacuated Friday morning after a sewer backup caused flooding in the basement, a popular study spot.

University of Calgary facilities manager Denis Villeneuve said the evacuation was precautionary and the flooding is relatively minor.

“Just to make it easier, there are a lot of people working down there. And they were good, they understood,” Villeneuve said. “It’s not that bad, it’s one corner by the bathrooms.”

Villeneuve said that the maintenance crews are attempting to identify the source of the leak.

“It might be one of the main lines, we’re not sure,” Villeneuve said. “We got all the response people down there right now auguring it out.”

Villeneuve was hopeful the study space would be available to students by next week.

“We’ll probably work over the weekend, I don’t see why we can’t be back and operational by Monday,” Villeneuve said.