Cullen flooded, once again, because of excess rains on Saturday and Sunday.
Corey Ruff, executive director of Facilities and Campus Management, said that there are plans to fix the flooding problem in Cullen.
“There is a drainage improvement project for Cullen that is scheduled to start in the near future,” Ruff said.
This is not the first time Cullen has flooded. Excessive rain caused Cullen to flood this past June, but the damage was much more severe because of six inches of water produced in just 30 minutes that rushed into the auditorium. The flood required 804 seats to be taken out, treated and reinstalled, as well as a fresh paint job for Cullen.
The Computer Auction, scheduled to be in Cullen this past Saturday, has been postponed until Oct. 5 because of the venue flooding.
Eric Lemmons, auctioneer for the event, said he knew around noon that he’d have to reschedule the event because water started flowing into the auditorium.
“Once water began flowing into the orchestra pit, which had held the laptops we were planning on auctioning just minutes before, I made the extremely hard decision to go ahead and postpone the auction,” Lemmons said.
None of the equipment was damaged because of quick decision-making by Lemmons’ staff.
“Fortunately, my excellent staff was able to mobilize quickly and all the equipment was moved before anything could be damaged by the water,” Lemmons said.
Lemmons said he does not know if this change in date will affect the success of the event.
“I have no verifiable way of estimating the impact of the change in date,” Lemmons said. “I have heard equally from folks who will no longer be able to attend due to the change and those who are now able to come and were unavailable on the original date.”
He does think that the delay might give his team more time to prepare for the auction.
“The extra time is allowing us the ability to add a handful of additional, nicer items to the auction,” Lemmons said.
Lemmons said he and his team chose to have a positive attitude about the postponement.
“We may have had a lot of clouds this past Saturday, but we are finding several silver linings they brought with them,” Lemmons said. “It may be a week later than planned, but it’s still a fantastic opportunity for the community to get a great deal on great equipment.”
