SEMO TO SHUT OFF POWER FOR MAINTENANCE WORK

Southeast Missouri State University will be virtually closed this weekend by a campuswide power shutdown.

The annual shutdown comes at the close of the spring semester and will allow the school to perform maintenance work on the electrical switchyard and the steam system.

Steam and electricity will be turned off Saturday afternoon. All utility services will be back on by 6 a.m. Monday and could be in operation as early as Sunday evening, Facilities Management Director Al Stoverink said.

The boilers that generate steam for heating and cooling will be shut down at noon. The electricity will be turned off at 2.

Stoverink said an event honoring area high school valedictorians and salutatorians will be held Saturday morning on the campus.

As a result, the utilities can't be shut off until Saturday afternoon, he explained.

Southeast wants to upgrade its electrical distribution system and power plant at a cost of $5.6 million over the next two years.

The utility improvements would eliminate the need for a campuswide power shutdown.

Stoverink said the power shutdown is unique to Southeast.

The shutdown means the buildings will be without air conditioning and lights over the weekend. Even the computers will be shut down.

"It is like shutting down a small city," Stoverink said. The University Center and the Show Me Center can't hold events during that time.

Students can't remain in the dorms even if they wanted to do so. "Everybody has to be out for that weekend," he said.

The telephone switchboard will remain in operation, powered by a generator. Generators also will be used to provide needed power for science labs and the Department of Public Safety.

Dempster Hall, a converted apartment building, and some of the houses owned by the school on the outskirts of the campus aren't on the campus power system and won't be affected by the outage.