LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Artists and business at the Mellwood Art center are cleaning up after a sprinkler pipe burst on Saturday, Jan. 25.

Video from Tara Bassett on Facebook shows water rushing down the stairs into the shops below. 

What You Need To Know

  •  A pipe burst at the Mellwood Art Center on Saturday

  •  The water damaged many of the shop spaces at the art center

  •  A couple of businesse owners said they have experienced leaks there before

  • Businesses impacted were closed to clean up 

On Sunday Jan. 2., during the afternoon, water was still seen spraying out of pipes at the Mellwood Art Center as artists were cleaning up the mess from disaster from the night before.

“Just hear money going up, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, you owe more money now. Every time I open one, it’s ruined, and it’s frustrating,” Jessy Woodmansee said as she inspected her photography back drops for damage.

Woodmansee assessed the damage from the pipe burst that happened just behind her studio.

“Up here is where a lot of the water was coming from when we first got in here, just dripping down the walls,” she said.

This isn’t the first leak she’s experienced at Mellwood. In fact, it’s the third.

“I keep having to replace stuff in here and I’ve only been in here a year. I had to replace tons of stuff over there from that second leak, and I couldn’t move in for two months, and I was out of work while I was waiting for them to fix this leak. It’s frustrating,” Woodmansee said.

It’s a similar story across the hall at Derby City CrossFit. This is the second leak the gym has faced since it opened at Mellwood roughly eight years ago. 

“Leaks are nonstop in the building, it is an old building of course,” said Slater Coe with Derby City CrossFit

This leak was worse than the first one soaking all three of the gym’s spaces. The furthest room from the water source had a waterline showing the water got a few inches deep.

“We had standing water in here, middle room, expansion room. It was coming out of the doors, there was waterfalls falls out of the doors,” Coe said.

Around midnight the leasing manager gave Woodmansee dehumidifiers, but she and Coe said they haven’t heard from anyone at Mellwood since then.

“She offered me a room to put some of my stuff, but that room was wet too, so I didn’t take her up on it. I was supposed to get a phone call today explaining what the next steps were going to be, and I haven’t received a phone call at all,” Woodmansee said.

Many businesses are closing while they are cleaning up. Woodmansee said she is already turning away clients.

“I can’t deal with having people in here right now,” she said.

Woodmansee said she wants Mellwood to get the spaces professionally cleaned and replace what was damaged.

We reached out to the Mellwood Art Center for comment on the situation but did not hear from them before this story was published.