Ruptured Pipe Floods History Museum

The San Diego Natural History Museum’s shore ecology exhibit received some unexpected special effects Thursday when a 16-inch water main burst, flooding the Balboa Park museum for several hours.

The flooding did not seriously threaten any of the ground-level exhibits, according to spokeswoman Katie Boskoff, and no dollar estimate has yet been placed on the damage.

“Mostly carpet and flooring were damaged,” Boskoff said.

A few of the stuffed animals that were displayed in the museum’s desert exhibit, however, may have been permanently damaged, said Michelle Connell, the museum’s director of finance and operations.

“The live desert animals are fine, though,” Connell said. “They’re a lot higher.”

The flooding, which one firefighter estimated at 100,000 gallons, began above the “The Salt Marsh” and desert diorama exhibits and spread mostly west toward the ocean ecology area, Boskoff said.

The flow ended when either a firefighter, a museum staff member or a city Park and Recreation Department worker found the right valve and turned it off.

“We’re not sure who, they were all running around turning valves off,” Boskoff said.

After the water supply to nearly the whole park was shut off, workers began draining a 40-foot-long lake of water 5 feet deep that lapped against the windows above the salt marsh and desert exhibits, Boskoff said.

Meanwhile, museum visitors were turned away at the front door.

“I don’t believe it,” said Cindy Reynolds, who was visiting Balboa Park for the first time from York, Pa. “That would have been neat.”

Her 5-year-old daughter, Danielle, hoping for the best, replied, “They might be kidding.”

Closing the doors clearly exasperated museum director Michael Hager, who missed the morning part of the crisis while attending a Rotary Club meeting.

“The reality is we’re losing money every minute we’re closed,” Hager said. “And this is not a good year for any of us to lose revenue.”

About 1,400 people visit the museum each day, Boskoff said. (Admission for adults is $6; seniors, $5; children ages 6-14, $2; under 6, free.)

One of Hager’s immediate goals was to start cleaning the museum, a task the city could begin only after water officials found the pipe break.

“They should know the water system well enough to know precisely what valve to shut off,” a frustrated Hager said early Thursday afternoon.

Though the city workers at first couldn’t find the exact break site, by late Thursday afternoon they had isolated the problem, and by 4 p.m. the floors were being dried by the city’s contracted cleaner.

“It looks like it was a 16-inch main that broke,” said John Morales, a supervisor for the city’s Water Utilities Department. “The working rule is an hour per inch. It will take 16 hours to get the main repaired and working.”

Museum officials were unsure whether the museum would open today, but said potential visitors can call 232-3821 to find out.