Some decidedly scary moments Sunday afternoon at the Lake Michigan College Mendel Center when an overhead pipeline feeding rest room facilities just off of the Grand Upton Hall burst and poured a river of water from the ceiling, flooding the back hallway of the facility right in the middle of the Southwestern Michigan Home, Garden & Leisure Show.
Fortunately, fast work by utility crews and emergency responders kept the damage from overtaking the exhibit hall itself, and the show continued without interruption up until its designated end time of 5pm. The photo accompanying this story on Moody on the Market is a screen capture from a brief video posted on Facebook Sunday afternoon by Stephanie Kelsey of St. Joseph who happened onto the scene as the water was cascading rapidly from the broken pipe in the ceiling and spreading quickly down the carpeted hallway inching toward the exhibit hall hosting the home show event which had begun on Friday night and concluded Sunday evening.
LMC’s Jennifer Jacobs told me this morning, “The pipe is fixed, water is back on, and damage has been cleaned up.” Better yet for those who are slated for events there, Jacobs reports, “No events will be affected thanks to quick action by the Mendel Center staff and the LMC Facilities Department.” That’s excellent news for the Mainstage which is featuring the 20th Anniversary rendition of Riverdance this Thursday evening at 7:30pm.
The busy center hosts dozens of meetings and events every week and month throughout the year and further damage could have proven to be catastrophic.
Damage estimates were not available this morning.
