MECHANIC FALLS – The Town Hall was closed part of Thursday and all day Friday after water and sewer flooding in the basement caused noxious odors throughout the building.
The recently renovated building flooded last week during the region’s string of rainstorms. Town Manager Dana Lee said the basement drain “normally goes one way. Last week it went the other way.”
The basement, which houses the town clerk’s storage vault, the furnace and the town gym, filled with about 8 inches of storm and sewer water. The water did little damage to the items stored in the basement, but it badly warped the old wood floor in the gym.
On Thursday, workers began ripping up the floor. The overwhelming stench of mold and sewer water quickly filled the building when the wood was removed, forcing Lee to close the hall for part of the day. It remained closed Friday as workers continued to rip up the floor.
“We just can’t conduct business in that environment,” Lee said from his home Friday.
The building is expected to reopen Monday.
Insurance is paying for the basement cleanup and the replacement of the building’s gym, Lee said. Although the full cost has not been calculated, it cost more than $3,000 just to tear up the wood floor.
The town spent $740,000 to refurbish the old building a year ago. At the time, workers installed a new furnace, new plumbing, sprinklers, fire alarms, a stairwell and a new elevator. They did not redo the gym floor.
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