Glen Ellyn History Center closed indefinitely after pipe bursts
The Glen Ellyn History Center will remain closed indefinitely for repairs of flood damage from a burst pipe that left muddy pools of standing water throughout the building at the village's northern gateway.
Power has been restored to the center, one week after a 4-inch pipe from a fire suppression system burst at the southwest corner of the building and flooded the basement and first floor.
"Right now, we expect the History Center to be closed at least the entire month of April," Executive Director Karen Hall said Friday. "All April rentals and programs have to be canceled or relocated. We are unsure yet about May - it is too early to tell."
The nonprofit Glen Ellyn Historical Society operates the center and the historic Stacy's Tavern Museum, left unscathed, about a block to the north. The historical society also has closed the museum and Stacy's Corners Store, a gift shop in the history center at Main and Elm Streets.
"The good news: most of our historic documents and artifacts related to the history of Glen Ellyn have been saved," Hall wrote. "We are now trying to save as many as possible of those that have been damaged."
During the power outage, volunteers guided only by flashlights carefully moved artifacts to temporary storage.
Local historian and author Dan Anderson, leaders of the Lombard Historical Society and DuPage County Historical Museum and Glenbard South High School students Jokubas Dinsmonas and Hasan Habib were among the volunteers who contributed to the recovery efforts. A Chicago History Museum staff member with roots in Glen Ellyn also showed up Friday to help.
"They've just come from all around," Anderson said. "Golly, it's nice."
Hall could not be reached for further comment Friday. Earlier this week, she said about 3 inches of water and mud spread throughout the first floor. The basement collected more than 6 feet of water.
"We're fortunate that we didn't have anything historic in the basement," she said. "So we're in the process of relocating all of the three-dminensional artifacts and documents to safe, dry locations where they can be secure while work is done to rehabilitate the building."
All carpeting and the insulation in the lower walls have been removed, and the basement has been stripped to the studs.
It's still not yet clear what caused the pipe, put in about 12 years ago, to burst. Hall said the historical society expects insurance to cover most of the costs of the flooding damage, but it's also set up a donation page on its website to allow donors to contribute. The center's phones were still down Friday, but volunteers who want to help still can leave messages at (630) 469-1867.
A history center presentation, "Emmett Till: The Spark of the Modern Civil Rights Movement," originally set for Saturday has been rescheduled for Aug. 24.