BTC closes building ‘out of an abundance of caution’ while structural assessment completed
Bellingham Technical College’s Campus Center building was closed Thursday afternoon to conduct a structural assessment. It will remain closed through Monday.
The school announced the closure in a student alert that was distributed at 2:19 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22, saying the closure was “out of an abundance of caution.”
The Campus Center building will remain closed Friday-Monday, Sept. 23-26, according to an update just after 5 p.m.
An announcement on the school’s website also said the Campus Center was temporarily closed, impacting the library, food pantry, tutoring, TRIO, campus store and student center.
“Students check your course Canvas page for class updates,” the announcement reads. “This message will be updated when services resume.”
The closure was needed after maintenance work within the building discovered a “questionable” truss connection point located above a hard ceiling, Interim President Kimberly Perry told The Bellingham Herald in an email Friday.
“Subsequent assessment and review by the building’s original structural firm recommended the precautionary step of closing the building while he reviews the design plans and runs some calculations which will take a few days,” Perry wrote.
“We expect to receive more detailed information from the engineer over the weekend and will provided updates as more information becomes available.”
This story was originally published September 22, 2022 at 4:09 PM.
