Burst water main floods Shambles Theatre in Rotorua

The Shambles Theatre has been flooded by a burst water main. Photo / Supplied

The Rotorua Little Theatre group should be gearing up for a Christmas production of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and 75^th anniversary celebrations in the new year.

Instead, members are clearing through the company’s sodden Shambles Theatre building after a burst water main streamed into the Amohau St building.

The pipe failure occurred last Thursday, with CCTV footage showing water surging for three hours.

Treasurer Charles Edwards estimated that at least a million litres of water escaped the pipe.

“We’ve had to cancel our show at enormous expense,” Edwards said of the performance of the Shakespeare comedy scheduled for November 26 to December 6.

The flooding impacted the foyer, ballroom, kitchen, bar and toilets.

The latter had recently had a $50,000 update.

Most of the water drained out by itself into a stormwater drain. A tomo then formed due to the volume.

The water was for city use, but was now deemed contaminated because it had crossed the ground.

Most items that came into contact with it will need to be disinfected, replaced or thrown out.

One positive to come from the experience was the community’s support.

“We’re amazed,” said Edwards. “The love and the offers of help are coming back at us, which is fantastic.”

He said fixing the theatre would be difficult because it was a voluntary community.

However, that work has already started, and the space is starting to dry out.

“People love this place,” said Edwards. “Things will work out, and we will rebuild.”

The Shambles Theatre, home of the Rotorua Little Theatre group since 1955.

Rotorua Lakes Council confirmed it received reports of water outages or reduced pressure in central Rotorua from about 11pm last Thursday.

Non-residential properties were impacted, including Rotorua Hospital, water services manager Eric Cawte said.

The broken water main was found and water restored to most of the CBD by 3am Friday, Cawte said.

“This pipe is one of several main feeds into the CBD and doesn’t specifically supply the hospital,” Cawte said.

“But the loss of pressure affected the hospital and most of the CBD until the break site was located and shut down.”

The pipe was replaced, and the water supply was reinstated to the remaining properties by 10am Friday.

A burst water main flooded The Shambles Theatre.

“Affected customers were informed and updated during the course of work to rectify the situation,” Cawte said.

He said the theatre group could contact the council “if they have any issues or concerns”.

A Te Whatu Ora spokesperson said the hospital was not adversely affected.

Rotorua has more than 760km of pipelines. Ageing pipes are being replaced with projects under way on Lee Rd, Ranolf St, and in Reporoa along State Highway 5 and Broadlands Rd.

Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in the UK for eight years.

- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.