— By Eric Francis for Daybreak

8/17/22

Efforts are underway to work out a temporary occupancy plan that could allow at least some of the businesses and offices displaced by Monday evening’s flooding of White River’s largest downtown block to return to work. But, for today at least, the Gates Briggs Building remains closed.

Less than 24 hours after a broken sprinkler main filled the basements with up to four feet of water, electricity was restored to most of the block. However, concern about the potential for compromises to the structural integrity of the foundations undergirding the sprawling brick former hotel, built in 1890, is holding up the resumption of business as usual.

Hartford’s wastewater treatment specialists had balked Monday night at an initial plan to have the fire department pump the water out from basements because they were worried it might be contaminated with heating oil.

At first light Tuesday, it turned out that the water had found its own way out overnight and that the heating oil tanks had held. That led to questions about exactly how the water left the basements.

Maintenance workers inspected the muddy floors of the basement first thing Tuesday morning after tons of water drained itself out of the structure overnight. The water had been waist-deep overnight in this particular section. Eric Francis photo.

“We had hundreds of thousands of gallons of water in the basement that all dissipated in under eight hours,” Hartford Fire Marshal Tom Peltier noted Tuesday evening. “Everything looks normal but that water could have undermined or washed out foundations, or the soils next to them, so until we have clarity on that part, occupancy is still a ‘No’ for tomorrow.”

Assuming that a structural engineer does give an all-clear for the building, the remaining hurdles will be getting back sufficient fire protection to allow workers and customers to safely occupy the warren of rooms and spaces inside the three-story block, which includes everything from small art studios and offices to a large open theater in the Briggs Opera House upstairs on the North Main Street wing.

Peltier said that electricians already have the fire alarm system back on-line, but protection will be limited to smoke detectors until the sprinkler system itself can be restored. Though that operation doesn’t have to be complete before at least some of the building can be given a temporary certificate of occupancy.

Hartford Fire Marshal Tom Peltier explained to business owners and other interested parties the plans for restoring services to the building on Tuesday.

Building owner David Briggs, who also owns the neighboring Hotel Coolidge, said Tuesday evening that it appeared to have been a sprinkler main that “failed catastrophically,” causing the flooding. He said a new sprinkler main will be installed “by Monday at the latest.”

As its name suggests, the sprinkler main feeds just the fire-protection systems.  The building’s drinking water, which comes through a separate domestic water pipe, was not affected by Monday evening’s break.

Even so, the shutdown has business owners worried. "We had a lot of flooding in the basement where we store some equipment and supplies,” Open Door Workshop owner Kate Gamble wrote in an email. “We, of course, like other businesses are frustrated to not be able to see clients and teach classes. We are a lean company already, so the loss of revenue is hard.”

Peltier, the Hartford fire marshal, said that while there was damage to basement offices and equipment for the two restaurants in the building—the Tuckerbox and Piecemeal Pies—electricians were able to get the upstairs coolers for both businesses back on Tuesday in an effort to preserve the large amount of food both had on site.  “That was a little bit of win for everyone this afternoon,” he said.