The leak continued through Sunday, according to Mayor Ted Bettencourt, before panels in the drop ceiling collapsed, raining water on documents and electronic devices. No price tag has been put on the damage, he said, and added that the city has notified its insurance carrier. He expressed confidence that the historic building, built in 1888, had suffered no lasting structural harm.
"I love this building," said Bettencourt, "but having the age it does, issues are going to pop up."
City facilities manager Tim Healy and building commissioner Albert Talarico plan to review the heating system throughout the building in an effort to head off any repetition of the problem.
Monday's closing was done "to make sure the flooding hadn't created any hazard in terms of electricity or fire," explained Chris Ryder, the mayor's chief of staff. The personal offices of the city clerk, health director and veterans agent will have to be relocated temporarily.
City Clerk Tim Spanos lamented the damage done in his office, which saw several 19th century record books soaked. On the other hand, he doesn't expect any problem to arise regarding the Tuesday, March 1 presidential primary and special election for state representative.
"I was worried about the absentee ballots," he said. "But there wasn't a drop on them. If anything, we were lucky."
Collapsed and crumbling ceiling tiles lay atop desks, tables and soaked rugs on Monday. The sometimes rusting, pressed-tin ceiling -- hidden for decades -- could be viewed high above. The clerk's office vault, which contains the city's most important and historic documents, was untouched by the flooding.
'Your office is underwater'
"My office is going to have to be redone," Spanos said. "I don't know about the computers." He shook his head. "I got a call from the custodian on [Monday] morning. He said, 'Your office is underwater.'"
Meanwhile, Spanos is hoping to contact a binding company to determine the best method of preserving the waterlogged books, including "acts and resolutions from the early 1800s." On Monday he had them spread out on a table in the corridor. "Right now we're going to dry them out and hope for the best. ... There's nothing that can't be replaced. I just want to save these books."
The front section of the clerk's office, where the staff greets the public, was spared any water.
Just below the clerk's office, health director Sharon Cameron had vital inspection reports out in the ground floor corridor, spread across tables to dry.
Most of her department's documents damaged by the water can be replaced, she said, but not these reports. Computers were destroyed and parts of the ceiling littered the floor or hung from the overhead metal grid that holds it in place.
Veterans agent Chris Tighe also had nearly all the belongings from his office drying in the corridor.
"It's the great flood of 2016," he said, contrasting it to the usual Peabody flooding. Damage of vital veterans' records was limited, he indicated. "It's going to take a while to get everything fixed."
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©2016 The Salem News (Beverly, Mass.)
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