Skip to content

Education Centre gets green light

Nipissing University News Release ********************* The electrical inspector has given the green light to Nipissing University and Canadore College to restore power to its College Drive campuses in North Bay after a theft of copper grounding wire


Nipissing University
News Release

*********************

The electrical inspector has given the green light to Nipissing University and Canadore College to restore power to its College Drive campuses in North Bay after a theft of copper grounding wire caused a complete power shutdown.

Facilities personnel will be restoring power in a controlled manner over the next few days which means the University and College will be closed until Monday, January 7 with the exception of essential personnel, who will be contacted by their supervisors. “To restore power properly it must be done slowly, unit by unit. It’s not just a matter of pulling a switch,” says Ewen Cornick, vice-president of administration Canadore College.

Once power has been restored, secondary systems such as email, phone messaging and registration systems will be brought back online; however, it is unknown what the extent of the damage will be to these systems until power has been fully restored. “We already know that the theft has resulted in significant damage, but what we don’t know is exactly how much damage has been done, specifically to the secondary systems. We ask stakeholders, who may be attempting to contact the University or College, for their patience as we, and our partners, work around the clock to get power and systems restored,” states Nipissing University President Dennis Mock. “We thank our community partners who have rallied together to help Nipissing and Canadore restore power during a time when people are usually off for the holidays. We are truly grateful for the support and it demonstrates once again what great community spirit we have in North Bay,” says Mock.

The University and College will be open Monday, January 7, 2008 and classes will run as scheduled. Students are asked to bring warm clothing as the classrooms may be a bit cool.

The power interruption was first detected Thursday, December 27, 2007 when an indicator alarm went off at the Education Centre and personnel investigated. An explosion took place about 8 p.m. that night due to copper grounding wire that had been stolen which resulted in heat burning through the insulation of more than 2700 metres of wire until a powerful electrical arc hit the grid. A criminal investigation is ongoing.

For updates, please refer to the Nipissing University Web site www.nipissingu.ca or call Nipissing at 474-3450 or Canadore at 474-7600.

*********************