The Gabel Hall pool is expected to reopen early this week after being closed for repairs after it sprung a leak on Nov. 17, said Kevin Vines, chief engineer for the heating plant.

Bob Albanese, associate vice president for finance and facilities, said the estimated cost of damage, including the janitorial staff compensation, was less than $5,000. Of that, pool repairs cost $2,500.

“Albanese and his crew were fast, effective and prevented it from being worse than it could have been,” said Jim Lockard, director of the Learning Center.

Although damage was minimal, some carpets in the Learning Center may need replacing if the mildew smell persists, Albanese said.

“We were lucky, it could have been a real catastrophe,” Albanese said. “The timing was favorable.”

At this time of year the pool is only used by Campus Recreation, which has rescheduled its events since the leak, Albanese said.

A broken lens in the underwater lighting system provided a 12-inch square hole in the pool’s deep end through which water leaked, Vines said.

Vines said an outside contractor was hired to replace the lens. The contractor discovered and replaced 17 other cracked lenses.

The Learning Center was most affected by the leak. The south side was left standing in four inches of water, Lockard said.

The south side remained open to faculty while carpenters and electricians worked. The south side was closed during finals week to steam clean the carpets.

The north side of the Learning Center was not affected by the leak and remained open to students and faculty during repairs.

During the weeks between Thanksgiving and finals, students were encouraged to use the north side because of odor problems due to chlorine in the carpet, Lockard said.