A flood at St. Andrews Anglican Church in Sidney has closed its soup kitchen service this month.
Church office worker Lois Ainey says on Thursday, Sept. 8 she heard the sound of rushing water. When she went to investigate, there was a couple inches of water on the floor in the church’s ancillary rooms.
“No one was in there at the time,” she said, “except me, and I heard something. It turned out to be lots of water.”
The water to the Church has been turned off while services to a new building under construction across from the church on Fourth Street were being worked on. Ainey said when the water came back on, apparently a valve in their sprinkler room — controlling their overhead fire control system — failed, causing the flood.
Janice Varga, People’s Warden at the church said a restoration company was called immediately and they have been busy replacing flooring and other water damaged parts of the building.
The church itself was not flooded and is still open Sundays for regular services. The soup kitchen, normally every Wednesday, has been closed and will reopen by the end of this month or later. Varga said the Anglican Diocese’s insurance is covering the cost of repairs.