Pizza shop, other businesses went days without power on UWT campus

A stretch of restaurants and cafes went without power for almost six days after a transformer failed on the University of Washington-Tacoma campus, a spokesperson confirmed Friday.

A transformer that electrified the Russell T. Joy building and adjacent retail units failed Jan. 10, said university communications director Elizabeth Metcalf. Crews were able to restore power to the academic area that afternoon, she said, but new equipment was needed to fix the businesses’ connections.

Michael Goronkin, general manager for the Tacoma outpost of the regional pizza chain, told The News Tribune Friday morning that his team had just finished preparing for what they anticipated would be a busy weekend.

“It was real heartbreaking to have it happen again,” Goronkin said. Neighboring businesses, including Pho Thanks Brother, Jimmy John’s, Just Poke and S-Level Tea, also lost power.

Their landlord is the University of Washington Tacoma.

Goronkin said the university’s director of real estate and development, Ben Mauk, was communicative throughout the process. He helped Zeeks and others store some of their perishable goods in campus refrigerators.

“After seven days, a lot of product you lose anyways, but it still helps,” said Goronkin.

He believes UWT moved quickly to order a replacement part, but the process was delayed until the workweek resumed on Monday. The new transformer was express-shipped Monday and arrived Thursday, confirmed Metcalf.

Zeeks and the other restaurants came back online around 2:45 p.m. on Jan. 15, she said.

Surge in UWT power outages?

This incident was not the first electric outage on the downtown Tacoma campus.

A fatal car crash in summer 2024 on South 21st Street destroyed a high-voltage switch gear that was unguarded in a parking lot, leading to a weeks-long outage. In 2025, many of the university’s buildings lost power for a few days in August when a leased “piece of electrical equipment” failed, according to the Emergency Updates page. There also were planned outages in October as part of what UWT described as “efforts to strengthen the reliability and capacity of the campus power system.” That work involved a new electrical transformer to remediate the August issue.

UWT’s power infrastructure operates independently of Tacoma Public Utilities, but proximity plays a role. Last October, TPU identified a downed power line near South 21st and Jefferson streets that impacted the campus. The outage lasted just a few hours.

Then in December, the intense rain and windstorms that befell Western Washington led to an outage that impacted four campus buildings for several hours, according to the university website.

Early this year, the power and internet flickered on and off due to adverse weather. On Jan. 3, Zeeks posted on Instagram that the restaurant had closed early the night prior due to a power outage.

Goronkin had some fun with it, writing, “Yes the power came back on! Yes, the power went out again this morning! Yes! The internet went down! Yes! The internet is STILL DOWN! Yes! We are open today! C’mon in!”

Earlier this week, he posted a photo of his team at Marcia’s Silver Spoon on South Tacoma Way. He took them to breakfast, he said in a phone call Friday morning, to bring some joy (and sustenance) to a week without work. He also baked trays of mac and cheese for them to take home.

“My team just needs hours,” he said. Where many restaurants view January as slow season, it’s “usually a great month for us,” he added, as classes resume and events at the convention center ramp up.

University staff were “transparent about the process” and have in the past provided prorated rent relief for forced closures, added Goronkin, but the completion date for this particular pickle was in flux. Thankfully, UWT hit its Thursday target.

“We appreciate the patience and collaboration of our retail tenants as our facilities team and real estate partners worked to safely restore power,” said Metcalf in an email. “Our team will continue with final closeout steps, including documentation and additional follow‑up with tenants post-restoration.”

Back in business, Zeeks rescheduled a Drinking for Conservation fundraiser from Tuesday to Friday, Jan. 16. There will be karaoke, too.

Editor’s Note, 1/16/2025, 5:00 p.m.: This story has been updated with commment from the University of Washington-Tacoma.

This story was originally published January 16, 2026 at 12:44 PM.