WINNIPEG – Water is flowing again from taps in the Polo Park shopping centre and the Clarion Hotel after businesses in the area were forced to shut down or scale back service because of a water main break.
A spokesperson for the Clarion told Global News two water mains serve the hotel, allowing the taps to resume running just hours after service stopped Monday.
Water started gushing onto Empress Street, on the east side of Polo Park, at about 5 p.m. Monday.
A spokesperson for the shopping centre, the largest in Winnipeg, told Global News because there was no water in the mall, the food court and bathrooms shut down just after 6 p.m., and the entire mall closed by 8 p.m.
The nearby Clarion Hotel was also without water. General manager Herb LeGrange said earlier Monday that guests might have to stay elsewhere if the problem couldn’t be remedied by Tuesday morning.
“I’m sure they have to go to the washroom. The toilets, when there’s no water pressure, they don’t flush, no matter what you do. You fill the tank with water, they still don’t flush, so then we’re in trouble.”
Earls Polo Park was also forced to close during its busiest time of day.
“It’s out of our control,” said Chris Kopansky, manager at the Earls Restaurant on Portage. “It’s one of those winters. Apparently it’s a few days away from leaving us. Let’s hope this doesn’t continue for everybody in Winnipeg.”
It wasn’t the only big water main break Monday. A pipe sprung a leak at Wall Street and Ellice Avenue earlier Monday, flooding Wall and forcing crews to stop traffic by Monday evening. Crews were still mopping up that break early Tuesday morning.
There have been more water main breaks than normal this winter, the city said. Between November and the end of February there were almost 200; the average over the last five years for the same period is 145.
Comments