A water pipe that burst inside the Covelli Centre in late January caused a lot of damage to the facility's kitchen.

During the Youngstown City Council meeting Wednesday night, Director of Finance Kyle Miasek explained what equipment was damaged during the cold spell.

Miasek said that the fire suppression system in the drop ceiling area above the kitchen area in the facility froze and burst, releasing "volumes and volumes of water."

Miasek said the water leak spread across the drop ceiling before eventually falling onto kitchen appliances, damaging the following equipment:

  • Four convection ovens
  • A pizza oven
  • A large steamer
  • A burn griddle
  • Two roller ovens
  • A food processor
  • A large mixer

Employees within the facility were able to shut off the broken suppression pipeline within 15 minutes; however, the water backed up  into the operations area of the facility near the kitchen, destroying a fire pump controller and a transfer switch that ties directly into the fire suppression piping.

Miasek is asking the city council to approve a $117,000 purchase order with Zabel Equipment to replace the water-damaged appliances.

The city has contacted its insurance company to see how much will be covered under its policy, but Miasek noticed that most of the equipment damaged was original equipment from when the facility was first opened in late October 2005. 

He added that while the kitchen is back set up, the facility is facing recurring charges for fire prevention and safety because of the current way the kitchen is set up. 

Miasek said the total cost will be determined in the next few weeks and that, in the meantime, he is asking for council to approve payment for the new equipment at the next board meeting on March 5.