Maintenance crews are still cleaning up the state capitol building after a frozen pipe burst and flooded the basement and first floor on December 5th.
Water damaged sheetrock and ceiling tiles and ruined equipment in basement offices. On Monday, the basement hallway was still littered with tables and boxes.
Public Information Officer at the Department of Public Administration Sheryl Olson said the state does not yet have a cost estimate from the flood. Not all the bills have come in yet.
Other government structures around the Capitol had problems too, though none as severe as the capitol itself. Olson said the flood was not severe enough to damage the structural stability of the building.
“Most importantly, nothing was damaged to the historic nature of the capitol. Nothing was damaged as a result of that waterflow,” Olson said.
Larry Strang owns the Politically Correct Café in the basement. He opened Monday for the first time since the flood. The day’s special: The Genesis 8 Burger.
“Genesis 8 is the part of the bible where the flood waters recede,” he said.
He said he lost a few thousand dollars being closed all this time. The state said he will have to look to his insurance company to find out if he can get that covered.
“That’ll be nice if we can get it back and everybody can have a merry Christmas,” he said.
Right now, he’s just happy to be back behind the grill.