Major disruptions would occur without the necessary reconstruction, Nestle said, including damage to fiber optic and telephone cables and a lack of steam going to buildings to provide heat and energy to run air conditioning systems at the Union.

“We discovered that some of the steam tunnels ­… had developed some very severe structural cracks,” he said.

The project will cost about $21.5 million, Nestle said, adding the other three phases of the project for the next three summers will come in at about an additional $40 million total.

“(The steam) creates the domestic hot water, (and) no one wants to take a cold shower,” he said.

From mid-February through April, some on-street parking will be closed across from Landon Hall as construction begins, according to a map on the Physical Plant’s construction website.

Much of the project’s first phase will take place in May through August, when complete road closures along parts of East and West Circle drives are scheduled to occur.

Nestle said officials will work around potential issues for residence halls that host summer programs.

Several pedestrian walkways will be created for people to get through the construction and travel between downtown East Lansing and campus, he said.

At the MSU Board of Trustees’ December 2011 meeting, John LeFevre, Physical Plant engineer and architect, said the reconstruction updates the infrastructure on north campus, the oldest section of MSU.

Fred Poston, vice president of finance and operations, joked at the meeting that it wouldn’t be a board meeting without steam tunnels up for discussion because they are such a frequent topic.

General management sophomore Matt Danhof, a Landon Hall resident, said although he does not plan to stay at MSU during the summer, he said he wouldn’t enjoy a lack of hot water if the tunnels were to break.

“A lot of students probably would be very disappointed if the work wasn’t done,” he said.