Friday, February 6, 2026

Dear DAC Community,

For the last several weeks, the Durham Arts Council has been experiencing a complex technical issue with the building’s main boiler system, resulting in uncomfortably cold temperatures leading to program cancellations. We have been working closely with the City of Durham and specialized technicians to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and wanted to provide a formal update to our community.  

Two winter storm systems and prolonged severe cold have caused delays in receiving specialty parts to repair the initial system issue. This delay resulted in new problems, including pipe leaks and other technical malfunctions in the building. As of today, the main boiler system has been repaired; however, the ramifications of this building emergency will be ongoing. The air handler that provides heating/cooling to Anderson Powell, our ceramics studio wheel and kiln rooms, has experienced a burst coil due to the extreme temperatures, and this will require special fabrication that may take weeks to complete. In the interim, we expect to move forward with classes, as able, but that room may stay cooler than normal until the issue is resolved. 

Throughout this crisis, the DAC team has been working diligently to keep our community informed and address challenges with integrity and exceptional commitment. From daily notifications to students and faculty concerning class cancellations and makeup plans, coordination with rental clients and grantees regarding use of the space, regular updates to social media and our other marketing platforms, our staff has had to manage this unprecedented challenge all while maintaining their composure and a good sense of humor. We especially want to highlight the dedication of our Facilities Department, who have braved the cold daily in our building to keep space heaters going and stay ahead of potential catastrophes. Anthony Zefiretto, our Facilities Director, has even had to be at the building overnight to mitigate issues caused by the extreme temperatures. We are deeply grateful to the DAC team for their dedication and care to our historic building and the community it brings together.  

We would like to sincerely thank our students, artists, instructors, renters, grantees, and visitors for their patience and understanding during this disruption. The grace our community has given us during this trying time is appreciated more than you know and is a testament to the spirit of coming together that our work in the arts fosters. We will continue to update community members as we continue making repairs.  

Students and faculty impacted by closures will be contacted directly concerning status updates for their activities in the building. We are planning to resume activities as temperatures outdoors mild in the coming week of February 9, 2026, and we continue to ask for your patience as our team works to keep classrooms temperate using space heaters and other means until this issue is resolved completely.  

Thank you,

Durham Arts Council Staff