Main break fixed, second water shutoff needed in Lawrenceville

Lawrenceville’s Row House Cinema was able to reopen Thursday for its 7:15 p.m. showing of “Singin’ in the Rain” following a water main break that flooded parts of the theater and closed a section of busy Butler Street for a good part of the week.

The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority completed repairs to the leaking 20-inch water main, but Butler between 39th and 42nd streets was set to remained closed until Saturday to allow crews to repave the street, the authority reported on social media.

The work also will require a temporary shutoff of water on 42nd Street, between Foster and Butler, from 11 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday. Affected customers were notified, the authority said.

Water service is restored for all impacted customers on Butler St. Road closure will continue until further notice. https://t.co/QoxIL8mSG9

— Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority (@pgh2o) May 16, 2019

Theo Ackerson, the theater’s general manager, said water started flowing into the basement area from Smoke BBQ Taqueria, which is in the same building, around 4 p.m. Tuesday during a showing of “Little Shop of Horrors.”

“At the time we didn’t realize the extent of what was about to happen,” he said. “Once we realized, I walked into the theater and told everybody we had to refund them because it was getting bad. The water was literally coming in through a stone wall.”

Staff was able to get the theater cleaned up in time for the Thursday evening show and said its Bierport craft bottle shop and tap room will reopen Friday afternoon.

“Water was flowing in for probably a good four hours before they were able to stop it,” Ackerson said. “We were using snow shovels to push the water straight out the back door.”

Smoke is closed on Tuesdays and had the restaurant cleaned up in time to open Wednesday.

The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority reported shortly before 5:45 a.m. that service has been restored to customers who had been without water since Tuesday evening. Officials originally predicted it would be repaired by Wednesday evening, but the fix took 12 hours longer than expected.

The authority provided water tanks for residents following the break.