Ball State moves classes online after geothermal leaks cut air conditioning
Sep 03, 2026
MUNCIE, Ind. (WRTV) Ball State University moved all classes online Friday because a series of geothermal pipe leaks knocked out air conditioning across campus during a heat wave.The university announced Thursday that the system
suffered three ruptures within 24 hours. Only essential employees are required to be on campus Friday.One of the leaks happened Thursday evening near the Teachers College. The pressure from the burst pipe caused a portion of the sidewalk to collapse.The outages began Wednesday night.Wednesday evening, our University experienced a leak in the geothermal heating and cooling system that resulted in a campus-wide chilled water outage, university officials said in a statement.University facilities teams are investigating the cause.The universitys facilities, planning and management team is working diligently to understand why these three ruptures have occurred over the past 24 hours. At this time, it is too early to provide a definitive assessment of the cause, and we cannot know with certainty whether additional ruptures may occur, a second statement said.The failures come as Muncie faces extreme heat. Temperatures reached 93 degrees Thursday. The city remains under a heat advisory until 8 p.m. Friday.No classes are scheduled on Monday for Labor Day, and university administrative offices will be closed.
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