New Convention Centre Flooded by Broken Pipe

A water leak at Vancouver's new convention centre has flooded two levels of the mammoth building, damaging the flooring and forcing 1,000 delegates of a Public Service Alliance of Canada convention out onto the street.

April 27, 2009, CBC News
The PSAC convention was supposed to be just the second event at the new convention centre, but just before the annual meeting kicked off Monday morning, the delegates got an unwelcome surprise.

Organizer Jeannie Baldwin told CBC News a sprinkler pipe burst and water began spraying out of the ceiling.

"There's water just pouring out the ceilings, literally, just pouring out of the ceilings on the first floor, and it's going onto all of our electrical, so it's pretty dangerous in there," said Baldwin, a regional vice president with PSAC. "So, we thought the best thing to do was pull all of our delegates outside until a decision was made."

Early reports are that two floors of the building were damaged and several meeting rooms will now need repairs, but there is no word yet on how much repairs will cost or how long they'll take.

One worker said the damaged flooring may have to be replaced. In the meantime, convention delegates have been told to return to their hotels and come back at 2 p.m. PT for an update.

The Vancouver Convention Centre was opened earlier this month at a cost of nearly $900 million, and is slated to be the main international press centre and broadcast facility during the upcoming 2010 Winter Games in February.