PIERCE COLLEGE : Electrical Repair to Cost $50,000

An electrical problem in an underground vault that caused the cancellation of classes and the shutdown of the Pierce College campus this week will cost $50,000 to repair, college officials said.

The cause of the malfunction, which campus police say occurred near the tennis courts about 3:30 p.m. Monday, is still unknown. Electricity was cut off throughout the campus.

Because the power loss also shut down the central telephone system, campus police used the radio and a fax line that was still operating to contact the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Pierce President Lowell Erickson, said police Capt. Ken Renolds.

Erickson, who was attending a meeting at West Los Angeles College at the time, authorized the emergency shutdown of the campus.

Electricity was partially restored to the campus by 8:30 p.m., Renolds said.

But there was no electricity in the administration, behavioral science and math buildings, the men’s and women’s gyms and the campus police offices until Tuesday afternoon when a generator was installed to temporarily restore power to those locations, as well as to the parking lots.

Some Tuesday classes were relocated; others were held outside on the grass.

Dave Bush, buildings and grounds administrator, said the problem could have been caused by water, moisture or dirt entering the tap box--a heavy steel box that connects high voltage cables--through cracks in the box covers or through the cables themselves.

Repair bills for the electrical boxes, cables and other damage will amount to more than $50,000, according to official estimates.

To pay the bill, the college will apply for special emergency funds from the Los Angeles Community College District, Erickson said.

In addition to the repairs, the college paid $3,900 to bring the generator on campus and is paying $2,900 a week in rental fees. Fuel for the generator costs $4,000, Bush said.

He said the repair work will begin as soon as the district approves the funds.