Yorkville Public Library reopens following flooding due to burst water pipes

YORKVILLE – The Yorkville Public Library has reopened after being closed for a week because of flooding.

Two water pipes burst Dec. 26, innundating portions of the building at 902 Game Farm Road. After a major cleanup, the building reopened to patrons Jan. 3.

On Christmas Day, pipes froze in a meeting room in an older portion of the library, but city maintenance worker Ted Milschewski shut off the water to that part of the building before they could burst.

The next day, disaster struck.

“Our boilers shut down causing two pipes to freeze and burst, one in our upstairs study room and a main one in my office,” library Director Shelley Augustine said.

Fortunately, no books or computers were damaged, but ceiling tiles fell in the library circulation area and in Augustine’s office.

“The drop ceiling tiles became saturated and dropped onto the circulation desk,” Augustine said. “It was just a mess.”

The flood in the upstairs study room rained down into another study room on the first floor, but the worst of it was in the director’s office.

Water gushed into Augustine’s office until the water main could be turned off. The water flowed out of the office into an adjacent room and into the library’s large print section, she said.

Most of the damage was confined to ceiling tiles, carpeting and baseboards, Augustine said.

Library managers were moving equipment, books and other items away from the locations where water was leaking from the second floor into areas on the first floor.

Augustine wrote that she, her husband and city public works employees were mopping and vacuuming water. ServPro workers arrived that same day to clean, dry and dehumidify the building.

About 50 fans were in use to dry out the building as the cleanup proceeded.

Asked about the boilers, Augustine said, “We have ongoing issues with our HVAC system.”