By Daily Press staff
CITY HALL — Crews here had to move swiftly this week when water started to seep into the basement of the government’s oldest building.
Workers on Monday swiftly contained the mini-flood in City Hall’s basement where the voice mail server is located. The water was never more than one-inch deep and voice mail service was never interrupted, said City Hall spokeswoman Judy Franz.
Construction crews, who were grading the vacant lot behind City Hall, accidentally cracked four abandoned conduits that had been capped off when the old Santa Monica Police building was demolished earlier this year. When it began to rain, the water went through the pipes and into City Hall’s basement.
“During the rough grading, unbeknownst to anyone, the capped conduits were evidently scraped and cracked and that’s where the water leaked in,” Franz said in an e-mail message. “We were able to quickly find the source of the leak and recap the conduits at the break points.”
The former police headquarters was demolished earlier this year after personnel moved into the new Public Safety Building. The area behind City Hall will be a landscaped courtyard open to the public, which is expected to be ready by the beginning of next year.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 20, 2005. Read the original PDF.