A waterworks failure occurred along Main Street on Thursday evening and the repairs and cleanup continued on Friday.
Evidence of the failure remained visible on Friday morning and there was heavy machinery on the 300 block of the street. The machinery by 8:30 a.m. on Friday had excavated a rectangular cutout in the middle of Main Street. There was sand and mud in the vicinity of the Egyptian Theatre entrance and a nearby walkway linking Main Street and Swede Alley. It appeared the failure caused damage to brickwork as well. Caution cones had been placed at the location.
Park City officials did not immediately respond to a Park Record request for information about the issue.
Randy Barton, the manager at the Egyptian Theatre, described that a large amount of water flowed out. He estimated the issue started at approximately 6 p.m. on Thursday.
“We had like a little geyser coming up out of the sidewalk,” he said.
Barton said the basement of the Egyptian Theatre and a basement-level restroom flooded. A pedestrian tunnel underneath Main Street used by the Egyptian Theatre also flooded, he said. There was flooding in the breezeway on the north side of the theater building as well, Barton said. There was limited damage to Egyptian Theatre carpets, he said.
Barton estimated the damage to the Egyptian Theatre at possibly $5,000.
Booker T. & the M.G.’s shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday are scheduled as planned.
There are occasional waterworks breaks along Main Street. An especially significant one occurred in July of 2019, when a torrent of water rushed onto the street. Authorities closed much of Main Street to traffic.