On Saturday night, an inch of water stood in the north one-third of the basement of the city-owned building on West Pine Street. It was discovered when the building's alarm went off, triggered by the sprinkler system, at 5:21 p.m.
The alarm brought responses from the city's fire and police departments. It just so happened that Mayor John Engen, on his way to the annual police department ball, was sharing beers with two Missoula City Council members at nearby Sean Kelly's tavern. It took one phone call to determine the location of the key to the Blue Heron - in the desk drawer of acting chief administrative officer Bruce Bender - and they were in.
It's likely that a frozen pipe set off the sprinkler system in a stairwell at the back of the building, both Engen and fire department Assistant Chief Mike Painter speculated Monday, the result of the subzero temperatures of a few days.
“It really has nothing to do with the condition of the building,” Engen said, “and everything to do with the weather.”
The fire crew determined there was no fire, and shut off the water.
“First we try to minimize the water damage,” Painter said.
While they were working, another water-flow alarm went off just before 6 p.m., over on Pattee Street at the Holiday Inn Parkside. Part of the crew took off south in response.
By 7:10 p.m., employees from the sprinkler and alarm company Fire Protective Services were in the Blue Heron, fixing the sprinkler system. Staff from the city's Public Works Department arrived to look things over. And a Dayspring Restoration crew went to work, removing the water.
All told, the water reached 1 inch deep. On Monday morning, the basement floor was dry.
Engen expects the costs to be minimal.
“I don't think we should be worrying about significant amounts of money,” he said. “What would be a bigger worry would be having an unsprinklered building.”
The city bought the former Blue Heron night club, just around the corner from City Hall, in August 2004, with the idea of remodeling it to serve as Missoula Municipal Court, which was crowded because of a skyrocketing case load.
Then City Council members changed their minds, worried about costs and about mold remediation in the basement. They decided to put it on the market in spring 2005. It didn't sell.
The council gave up its chambers in City Hall to Municipal Court last fall. And earlier this month, a post-November-election new council voted to go forward with the remodeling. The 6,000-square-foot building will be a new meeting hall for the City Council and offices for the Missoula Redevelopment Agency, the city's urban renewal agency.
Reporter Ginny Merriam can be reached at 523-5251 or at gmerriam@missoulian.com
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