Water Everywhere

This one definitely qualifies as a "behind the scenes scoop"!

On Tuesday evening this week it was discovered that the water main feeding the sprinkler systems of one of our Huntington Ave. buildings broke. The break was outside, just next to our foundation, and water was pouring into our basement props and costume storage areas through every possible weakness in the foundation wall it could find. Water eventually began pouring up through the cracks in the sidewalk too!

As we scrambled to move as many valuables as we could to higher ground the water rose to up to perhaps 4 inches in some areas. Not much, you might say, unless you've ever seen how much stuff we've got packed in down there! It was eventually shut off and cleaned up and a company was brought in with commercial equipment to dry us out. It was an exciting evening with Boston Fire Department, Boston Water and Sewer, and easily a dozen staff from BU's Facilities Management and Safety offices joining the Huntington staff all working to get the potentially catastrophic situation under control.

Damage was pretty minimal, thank you Theatre Gods, though it will be a few days before we're all put together again.

We didn't get any photos while water was in the building because, well - we were busy, but here are a few photos of the mess created in the aftermath. The missing pipe that is supposed to be coming through this hole in the wall (Photo R) is the one that broke just outside the wall.


This shot shows some of the equipment used to dry the room out. This area is where we store furniture, carpets, fabrics, luggage, pictures and art, and all the rest of our props. Another room effected was our costume department's "large women's" room. The clothes aren't necessarily for large women, rather it's the largest room that women's clothes are stored in.


We had to move a lot of the furniture out of the way so that repairs to the pipes and foundation could be made. It just got piled into other spaces. Here's a peek.

























Here's the scene out on the sidewalk earlier today.


And finally... ever wondered what the iron deposits on the inside of a water pipe look like?? Enjoy...

PS> You can click on any of the photos for enlargments.