ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla — Forty-six newly remodeled rooms were destroyed by a water leak in the historic Ponce de Leon Hall building at Flagler College, according to an email to students.
Also called Ponce Hall, the building has been standing since 1888 and is a national historic landmark.
Ponce Hall East will be closed for the entirety of the 2022-2023 due to the leak, which occured during renovations which intended to install new flooring, paint, light fixtures and furniture, the email said. The leak came from a fire response system.
Students who had planned to live in Ponce Hall East will now be moved to other dorms across the campus.
While Ponce Hall East is closed, Flagler will fix damages from the leak and implement renovations to "further enhance the physical space."
Flagler College President John Delaney wrote in the email that he is confident students will find their new assignment "comfortable."
Ponce de Leon Hall was once a hotel called Hotel Ponce de Leon, commissioned by Henry Flagler, the college's namesake. It was one of the stations first electrified buildings, according to historians.
"It's been my top school for awhile, so I was pretty happy," said Incoming Freshman Alexis Lowe.
Lowe has spent the summer gearing up to head to her #1 school, Flagler College this Fall.
Almost as exciting as getting into her top school, was getting her into top dorm.
"A lot of people at orientation said, 'It's tradition, you have to live in Ponce at least one year,' so everyone was stoked to be in it," said Lowe.
That was until she received that email letting her know that wasn't going to be the case.
Now, she'll be half a mile away in FEC Hall.
"I went from having the dining hall as part of my dorm, to a whole fifteen minutes. Maybe that's good, maybe I'll end up appreciating that," said Lowe.
Continuing to look at the bright side, Lowe says after some pestering, she was able to keep her original roommate assignment.
However, like many other students from the damaged rooms, they'll have a third person crammed into the new room designed to fit only two people.
Not the move in situation she dreamed of, but Lowe is staying positive, because it still is her dream school, after all.
"It'll all clear up, and I think I am excited, nonetheless," said Lowe.