POMONA - More than 200 Cal Poly Pomona students slated to move into new campus housing next month may end up in hotel rooms when school starts, the result of vandals who flooded the nearly completed building.

Fixing the damage could potentially cost millions of dollars, push the completion date of the building back several months and force the university to find emergency off-campus housing for students, university officials said.

"It's just terribly disappointing," said Douglas Freer, assistant vice president for Student Auxiliary Services. "Clearly the folks who are most impacted by this are the students."

Developers are offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of those responsible for the damage.

The $13 million building was just weeks from completion when vandals sneaked inside the night of July 15, turned on kitchen sink faucets in more than 50 units and flooded the rooms, he said.

The suspects then ran large hoses from the ground level through the windows of the upper level suite bedrooms -- allowing water to run freely through the building's three stories for hours, leaving three to six inches of water in places.

"We have to believe it was somewhere in the neighborhood of seven to 10 hours before it was detected by the construction crew when they came on the next morning," Freer said.

The university is about halfway through the investigation process to determine what repairs need to be done and what the total cost will be. He estimated damage will run between $2 million and $3 million.

As a result of the flooding, all of the 205 bedrooms in the building suffered damage to walls, ceilings and floors. Carpeting in the building is a complete loss, Freer said. Much of the drywall needs to be replaced, as do many cabinets.

"We were scheduled to have furniture delivery begin a couple days after this incident," Freer said, indicating just how close to completion the building was.

If the suites are not completed by the time school starts Sept. 25, the university may look into housing students in off-campus hotels or apartment complexes, which could inconvenience those who eagerly sought and landed a spot in the new rooms, Freer said.

"Students are very excited about this project," he said. "They had already signed up to move in in the fall. They had chosen their individual units. Several hundred are on the waiting list."

The building is one of two nearing completion. Planning began five years ago for the two structures and construction began May 2002. The other suffered no damage and is on track to open for the fall quarter.

Edge Development Inc., the general contractor, is responsible for the security of the building until it is turned over to the university, Freer said. Its insurance company has already been on site to assess the damage.

Those who have any information about vandalism of the suites are asked to contact University Police at (909) 869-3070.