Nearby Water Leak Knocks Out HVAC System at County Garden Building in Lock Haven

LOCK HAVEN – A Wednesday water leak in downtown Lock Haven flooded the basements of several buildings on E. Main Street. The break was discovered around noon time in the basement of a nearby vacant storefront building. City water department employees responded and turned off the line at the curbside, but the leak had already caused untold damage in the basements of nearby buildings.

Hard hit was the adjacent Clinton County Garden Building. County board chairman Miles Kessinger, while inspecting the damage, told therecord-online the leak had flooded the basement and knocked out several recently installed heating/air-conditioning units, depriving the building of heat until the units can be replaced; he said a call has gone in to the county’s insurance carrier. The building has been closed to the public in recent days because of the coronavirus. The high water had also tripped some circuit-breakers which briefly affected the county’s communication service, he said.

Kessinger and city fire official Bob Neff both said the leak had apparently gone undetected for some time. Volunteer firemen were pressed into duty, pumping out water from the basement of the Garden Building and the Roxy Theater located some distance away. Neff said the basement water level was receding, down to two-and-half feet at mid-afternoon.

Kessinger said the building where the leak occurred is owned by a New Jersey man who was contacted about the situation. Kessinger said the clean-up at the county building could be a considerable project; the basement has a dirt floor.