Flooding causes 'sea of water' at Charlottetown church

The congregation of First Baptist Church in Charlottetown will be holding its services elsewhere for the next few weeks.

Last week, flooding caused significant damage to the main sanctuary and some meeting rooms.

Dave DuBois, the lead pastor, said he heard a hissing sound and thought the sound system had been left on.

But when he went to investigate, he saw water in the sanctuary and traced the problem to a pipe under a toilet tank that was shooting out water.

"Then as I walked toward the back, quite a sea of water, not very deep, only an inch or two but it covered the whole entry area, the foyer, certainly that washroom, and then down the stairs into the lower level also seeping from the floor to the ceiling of the lower level."

Pews, carpets and tiles to be removed

DuBois said he believes the water was spilling from the pipe for hours. 

"I think I was in shock initially. But certainly it is very hard to see what has taken place in the days since, where we have had to tear up the carpeting," he said.

"We are removing the pews so that the flooring can be — the issue there can be addressed. And just to see what a week and a half ago was our normal worship setting and now it's pretty close to empty in there."

DuBois said all of the carpeting that got wet had to be discarded, as well as the tiles underneath the carpet. 

He said the church's trustees have pre-emptively gone through the rest of the fittings in the 60-year-old building and replaced them all since the flood. 

Services held elsewhere until further notice

DuBois said he doesn't have an estimate of the damage, but said insurance adjusters have told him it could be six weeks before the space is usable again. 

"It's affected our routines for sure, we really have to be flexible and trust that we'll get through from week to week."

In the meantime, services will be held at the Florence Simmons Performance Hall until repairs are made.  

DuBois said he's received a number of messages of support from other congregations. 

"It's good for the community to pull together" he said. 

He said he's hoping work will be complete in time for Easter — but that's uncertain.

The church's annual general meeting happens to be this week, and in addition to the regular agenda items, the group will also have some decisions to make on how their new space will look.

"We're just looking forward to seeing this process through and being back in our own home building again."

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