Power to the Student Recreation Center and Lincoln and Douglas residence halls was knocked out most of Wednesday night after a small explosion in a man hole near the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

The incident not only forced the recreation center to close down early, but has also re-sparked concern over Eastern’s aging and deteriorating electrical distribution system.

Around 7:30 p.m., water buildup in a 10-foot-deep man hole under the Union Walkway shorted out the high voltage line feeding Lantz Arena, O’Brien Stadium and Lincoln and Douglas residence halls.

Gary Reed, Physical Plant director, said the incident caused a “sudden flash of light almost like a bolt of lightning.”

The explosion damaged the linkage box and burned the insulation around the high voltage cable that powered the affected buildings.

Electricians were dispatched to the scene and worked through the night to restore power, Reed said. At about 1:30 a.m electricity from another circuit was rerouted to restore power.

Reed explained the incident as “just another in a series with our aging electrical underground infrastructure.

“Invariably there will be more failures as time goes on,” he said.

Some of the campus’ electrical distribution system is up to 75 years old, and Reed said as time passes it becomes increasingly difficult to find replacement parts when incidents like Wednesday’s occur.

For the past three fiscal years, which run from July to July, he said Eastern has been requesting state funding for an overdue $4 million electrical distribution system overhaul.

“This is our highest priority on campus,” he said, adding that the university has made the same request again for fiscal year 2003.

Jeff Cooley, vice president for business affairs, said last year’s request for the overhaul did not travel beyond the Illinois Board of Higher Education. To be appropriated, state allocations must be approved by the state legislature and governor after IBHE approval.

Cooley said the 2003 request is currently being reviewed by the IBHE.

Reed emphasized the urgency of the project.

“I don’t know how long our infrastructure will hold out,” he said. “It is just a matter of time.”

Eastern crews worked continuously Thursday to fix the damaged linkage box and high voltage cable. Reed said he expected everything to be fixed and running through the normal feed lines by late Thursday afternoon.

Ken Baker, recreation center director, said he was in telephone contact with a building coordinator after the power outage occurred and made the decision to close the recreation center when it could not be determined when power would be restored.

“It’s kind of hard to do things around there when you can’t even see what you might drop on your foot,” he said.

Campus police were on patrol to secure the area because the loss of power made the building’s security technology ineffective, Baker said.

Erin Hoppe, Lincoln’s residence hall director, said about 375 students in Lincoln and Douglas halls were affected by the power outages. Carl Aldrich, Douglas’ residence hall director, said once the buildings went dark, emergency lights were illuminated in the hallways by a back-up generator.

“Students just kind of hung out in the halls during the outages,” he said.

Neither the RDs or Baker said any damage to computers or electrical equipment was caused by the power outages.

Reed said the campus has been paralyzed by “six major campus power supply failures in the last three years.”

The failures had affected Old Main, Pemberton Hall, McAfee Gymnasium, Martin Luther King Jr. University Union, Buzzard Building, Doudna Fine Arts Center, Steam Plant, Lantz Arena, Coleman Hall, Student Recreation Center, O’Brien Stadium and Lincoln, Stevenson and Douglas residence halls.