Ayers Brook Center
Opens after Flooding
By Sara Nelson

Bill Holbrook of First Choice Restoration removes damaged ceiling tiles in the offices of Central Vermont Community Action Council (CVCAC). CVCAC's offices were among several in the Ayers Brook Center that were closed for a week when a sprinkler pipe rusted through, flooding the floors. The Ayers Brook Center is across from the Randolph Village School. (Herald / Bob Eddy)

All of the tenants of the Ayers Brook Center were able to reopen by Wednesday, Sept. 5 after a leaky pipe caused flooding that closed the building last week.

Julie Iffland, the executive director of the Randolph Area Community Development Corporation, which owns the building, explained that a small hole rusted through a sprinkler pipe and water likely started leaking through the pipe around 2 or 3 a.m. Monday morning, Aug. 27. A sprinkler alarm that would normally notify the company of a system failure didn’t sound, possibly because the power outage caused by the heavy storms that weekend outlasted the alarm’s backup battery.

A Randolph police officer noticed water coming out of the building later that morning, and alerted the fire department, which shut off the valve, Iffland said.

Iffland said that since Monday the sprinkler company and a clean-up company have been "working non-stop" to fix the sprinkler system and dry the carpeting, which was "drenched."

Iffland said the carpet would have to be cleaned but not replaced. She didn’t know the cost of permanent repairs to the sprinkler system, but said it was "pretty reasonable."

"All things considered, it could have been a lot worse," Iffland said.

Several of the agencies at the Ayers Brook Center serve low-income and at-risk families. The building is home to an Orange-Southwest Supervisory Union preschool, the Central Vermont Community Action Council, Kid’s Place, and the Vermont Department of Children and Families.

The preschool reopened Tuesday and the rest of the organizations were able to return yesterday.