Lock Haven Main Street apartment building empty since holiday-time major water break

LOCK HAVEN, PA – A downtown apartment building remains closed since its occupants were evacuated just before Christmas due to an upstairs water line break. It is not known when the four-story structure at 121 E. Main Street will be approved by the city for re-occupancy.

The alley entrance to the first floor Fitness Unlimited business has a “danger” sign stating it is unlawful for anyone to enter or occupy the structure. The emergency order is dated Dec. 21, 2020. Dave Mayes is the building/business owner.

Cyndi Walker, city Code Enforcement Officer, confirmed the closure on Friday. She told therecord-online the building suffered a “breach in the fire suppression system.” The breach, she said, resulted in a significant amount of water flowing through the building. She said Mayes is working with the city’s third party inspection agency, Code Inspection, Inc. to ensure the building is safe prior to being reoccupied.

Walker said all damaged systems, including the fire suppression system, will need to be operational “before it can even be considered for habitation.” In the interim the city code official said the building is closed and secured.

“All occupants were evacuated the night of the water leak; they were allowed back in the building to gather personal belongings after that, but the building has not been occupied since the initial breach.”

Walker said the building’s fourth floor has been vacant for the last two years and believes that may have been the issue with the fire suppression system. “There may not have been enough heat to keep the supply lines from freezing and breaking.”

She said she could not give a count on the number of occupants who had to leave, but does not believe there were any injuries. ”The fact that the fire suppression system was compromised in a four story building warranted an emergency situation in its own, but the volume of water in the building required that the heat and electricity also be turned off until a damage assessment could be made.”