Much of the Hutchinson Event Center is closed for the foreseeable future due to a burst pipe, according to city staff.
Burst pipes are common during Minnesota winters due to increased pressure created from ice, which has a higher volume than water. When a pipe in the Event Center burst Feb. 1, parts of the facility became unusable. Staff discovered the issue Feb. 3 when they arrived at the facility.
City Administrator Matt Jaunich said he hopes the facility will be back in business soon. The city does not yet know whether insurance will cover the repair cost, but an adjuster is preparing a report after visiting Thursday. New information may be available next week.
“I’m under the assumption this will be an insurance claim issue,” Jaunich said. “A lot will depend on what the adjuster says.”
According to Dolf Moon, director of Parks, Recreation and Community Education, the city’s insurance deductible threshold is $25,000. If the repair cost goes higher, the Event Center will dip into its operating budget. Taxpayers in the city won’t feel any effects.
“The $25,000 deductible on an $11 million operating budget is kind of miniscule,” Moon said. “It’s a real number, but it’s relatively small. (Accidents like this) are why we have an operating budget.”
So far there is not yet a timeline for when the facility will be fully open; the Great Room and corner rooms are still operable.
“It’s kind of step-by-step right now,” Moon said. “All senior programming space had water in it.”
The affected rooms, roughly 10,500 square feet total, were still being cleaned with fans, dehumidifiers and other draining equipment as of Wednesday. Standing water covered about 8,500 square feet. City staff are still waiting to learn if the saturated carpet is salvageable.
Standing water on a carpeted surface runs the risk of mold, Moon said, but the pipe only leaked what is essentially tap water.
“Albeit 15,000 gallons of it,” Moon said. “It’s not from a fire suppression system or an irrigation system, luckily. Mold is one of the big pieces we’re monitoring. We don’t want to take a flooded area and let it turn into a health hazard. We have professionals on it, testing and measuring the humidity.”
Moon said the process required approximately 70 fans.
“You want to get those things dried out,” he said. “We’re trying to manage it day by day.”
Damage like this can easily add up, as large amounts of carpet space have to be tested and possibly replaced with many unknowns. Moon declined to give an estimate on the final price for repairs.
“At about 8,500 square feet, if you figure $3 to $5 per square foot (for replacement), that price easily gets over $25,000,” he said.
Community groups use the Event Center nearly every day of the week. Postponed programming includes adaptive recreation, which is canceled for the upcoming Tuesday, and several private rentals. Weight Watchers will continue as scheduled.
“It’s a fluid situation,” Moon said. “Church services in the Great Room will continue.”
On the subject of fluids, the pipe in question was an abandoned waterline that burst at an elbow, according to Moon. Around the time when the pipe burst, which was estimated based on water gauge readings, outdoor temperatures fluctuated about 50 to 60 degrees upward after the recent polar vortex.
“This facility was built back in the year 2000,” Moon said. “Those lines were capped off, and they were behind a wall. They ruptured at an elbow because a cavity in the wall was cold enough to make the water freeze. It’s unfortunate. (Staff) got there Sunday, opened the door and walked right into a big mess.
“We’re mainly concerned about mold. We’re taking all the necessary precautions.”
