Water damages Christian Press, Elmwood church

A water main break late afternoon on February 5 caused extensive damage to the Christian Press building and to Elmwood MB Church.

Water main breaks are common in Winnipeg during the winter months when the frost gets down to the level of the pipes. The ground pulls away from the pipes and this allows any weak spot to enlarge, creating a break. It took Winnipeg City crews several hours before they were able to halt the water gushing through the two buildings.

Although not all damage at Christian Press has been assessed, Ron Wood, manager, estimates it will approach $50,000. The entire office has been gutted and will need to be rebuilt. Office furniture and computers were damaged beyond repair, but the presses are working. Whether there will be residual damage remains to be seen. How much damage paper supplies suffered is also not yet known. This will be assessed once the moisture in the building has been reduced.

Elmwood Church basement also suffered considerable damage, as did the sidewalk in front of the building, but no figure of the dollar value is available. Sunday services will not be seriously affected, but midweek programming may need to be curtailed. A light standard and basketball hoop on the parking lot was damaged when ice was cleared, but that will be replaced immediately.

Christian Press is the print shop owned by the Canadian MB Conference and it is where most Conference materials are printed. It is anticipated that insurance will cover the costs of repairs.

—sbb