High School Suffers Water Damage
About 9:45 on Tuesday, February 6, 2007, at the site of the temporary wall connecting the new High School construction to the current building, cold air that had worked its way over the top of the wall and settled into the drop ceiling froze and burst the sprinkler pipe.

Water spread down the locker room hallway and into both gyms before the system could be shut down. The small gym had about 3" of water, and the large gym was about 1/3 covered with about a half inch of water.

The fire department responded and helped squeegee out the water, then fans and suction equipment took over. The students had to be bused home because the emergency sprinkler system was compromised, and the gas lines had been shut down. The Middle School and St. Wenceslaus School were also bused home because they are on the same bus run which required a special call for drivers.

The fire detection and sprinkler systems have been restored, the carpeting has been cleaned twice, and the insurance company has contracted a company to dry out the gym floors (a similar rescue was successful recently at Robbinsdale). Barring any unforeseen problems, school should run normally tomorrow (Wednesday, February 7).

The Tuesday night basketball games at the high schol were postponed, and it has been estimated that the gym will be out of use for up to 6 days.