‘It’s just really cold’: Students lose heating amidst winter temperatures in Bouquet Gardens

Students on the first floor of Bouquet J felt Pittsburgh’s freezing temperatures in their rooms after the heating system broke on Jan. 16, in the middle of the coldest week in almost a year.

The Bouquet Gardens Apartments, located between South Bouquet Street and Oakland Avenue, house about 650 students in triples and quads. University spokesperson Jared Stonesifer said once Pitt received the first complaint, the university sent engineers to assess the problem. 

“Panther Central received the first report of a heating issue on Tuesday, Jan. 16,” Stonesifer said. “Engineers were dispatched to investigate, and temporary heaters were distributed to the impacted apartments. At that time, it was determined that additional repairs to the heating system were necessary, and the required parts were ordered.”

The heating outage was contained to the first floor of the building. To try and combat the problem while waiting for the heat to be fixed, maintenance distributed space heaters to all affected dorms. 

Stonesifer said that maintenance started working to fix the problem on Jan. 26, but as of Jan. 28, students are still experiencing problems. 

“The contractor is on-site today [Jan. 26] with the necessary parts and will make the repairs. Impacted students will be notified when the repairs are completed. We will also continue to monitor the heating system to ensure it’s working properly.”

Junior computer science major Jevaria Bashir said her heater worked for a while, but after it broke, she never got a replacement one. 

“We got a space heater,” said Bashir. “It was working for the first few days. We got one for the living room, then we couldn’t feel anything. We couldn’t feel any airflow. So, someone from maintenance came in and said they would give us multiple space heaters [be]cause ours was broken. They never came back.”

Space heaters are directly cited as not allowed in dorms per the University’s housing and dining policy, though an exception was granted because of the extenuating circumstances. 

Students like Bashir said they’re taking their own steps to combat the temperatures, including donning extra layers when in her dorm. 

“It’s just really cold,” Bashir said. “If anything, I’ll just have to bundle up. For one of my online classes, I have to wear my jacket. It’s inconvenient. I have the means to be OK. I really hope it’s fixed.”

Heating issues were not isolated to the first floor, but instead of other floors losing heat, students claimed it was hotter than usual. Junior biology major Kristian Swann, who lives on the third floor, said he experienced an increase in his heating. 

“It does seem like the heating has been hotter than usual,” said Swann. “Our thermostat is set to around 68-70 usually but the past few days I’ve had to turn the heat off to cool down.”

Stonesifer said the heating system was missing additional refrigerant, a chemical used in heaters that is necessary in order for them to work correctly. 

“Contractors made temporary repairs last week while they awaited the necessary parts to make the larger repair,” Stonesifer said. “While we intended to make the repairs on Wednesday, Jan. 24, we’ve delayed the repair pending the arrival of the necessary parts.”

Stonesifer acknowledged the amount of time it took for the issue to be resolved. He encouraged students to report maintenance issues to get them fixed as quickly as possible.

“The University strives to ensure all maintenance issues are addressed swiftly and regrets the extended repair time in this instance,” Stonesifer said. “Students are reminded not to delay and contact Panther Central to report any maintenance issues in their University-owned housing.”