By Will Wright

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After covering art, computers and personal belongings in plastic, faculty in the Enoch Grehan Journalism Building hoped their valuables would remain dry.

A broken membrane in the Grehan Building roof allowed water to leak into second-floor classrooms and some faculty offices on Saturday, said Herald Sanford of UK’s Physical Plant Division.

The membrane is a film on top of the roof that is meant to seal it from water. It was repaired in November, but cracked last week due to sub-zero temperatures.

UK Public Relations was unable to provide an estimate on the cost of repairs on Monday.

Two second-floor classrooms got the worst of the damage, with faculty reporting inches of water on top of the carpet. Maintenance crews worked to remove the water, but some faculty worry the leaks will continue as the snow melts on the building’s flat roof.

“We’re thinking it probably will (leak again), but we can’t be sure,” said Nancy Grant Harrington, associate dean for research in the College of Communication and Information.

The roof has leaked before, Harrington said, and many of her possessions were nearly destroyed by the flooding last time, but staff “swooped in” and saved her computer and books as water seeped through the ceiling.

This time, she’s taking precautions. Harrington draped a large sheet of opaque plastic, provided by the PPD, over her desk and moved some valuables to a different room.

“As soon as the first opportunity … we’re going to get that membrane resealed,” Sanford said. “We’ve got the building pretty much back to normal.”

Faculty on the second floor are preparing for more leaks, however, and about ten classes temporarily moved to different rooms and buildings due to the flooding.

Sanford said no other buildings were damaged due to the recent snow.

The two second-floor classrooms received the worst of the damage this time, but some water leaked through the second floor and into the first floor, said Scott Johnson, director of research and instructional technology for the College of Communications.

“(Classroom) 223 was a lake, three inches deep,” he noted. “And in (classroom) 225 it was raining.”

No technology was damaged in the latest leak, Johnson said, and he was impressed by how quickly PPD workers were on the scene cleaning up the water on Saturday.

“(This time) we were actually fairly lucky,” Johnson said. “It was mainly isolated to the two classrooms.”