1. The Forum Theater in the
Radio-Television Building has
flooded possibly in part due to
the amount of water used to
fight the fire on West Union
Street Sunday and the rain,
said Michael Lincoln, artistic
director and division head of
the Division of Theater.
This isn’t the first time the
theater has been soaked in
water.
“We’ve always had leaking
problems,” Lincoln said. “It’s
like having a building built
into a bathtub.”
Facilities has been work-
ing since last night to get the
theater dried by Tuesday. The
division’s latest production,
The Cherry Orchard, was set
to premiere Wednesday but
will be held until Thursday
assuming there is not a larger
issue, Lincoln said. A Sunday
matinee will be added.
Alycia Kunkle, a third-year
graduate actor who plays
Varya in The Cherry Or-
chard, recalled the rehearsal
Sunday evening and said
around 11 p.m. everyone no-
ticed the water in the theater.
“They were trying to block
it off with plastic tarp with
stage weights on them, paper
towels,” she said. “It looked
like a game of Mouse Trap
with the way they were trying
to run the water out.”
The two areas with the
most significant damage were
the small closet directly be-
hind the top row of audience
seating and the vomitorium,
a passageway built under the
audience that allows an actor
to enter or exit the stage.
The overwhelming smell
of mildew filled the air. The
walls were painted with the
dripping stains of old leaks.
Rust and what looks like mold
completely cover one corner
in part of the vomitorium.
Nathan Davis, a first-year
graduate student studying
sound and projections design,
said he is mostly concerned
with all of the equipment in
those areas, especially the
400-amp tower that currently
has a small pool of water next
to it.
Davis said he can’t fully as-
sess the damage until every-
thing has completely dried.
Lincoln said it looks like
the water is coming from the
wall alongside the alley which
runs between the RTV Build-
ing and Kantner Hall.
A worker came Monday
evening to do concrete seal-
ing. Lincoln said it had been
done successfully four years
ago. However, he said if the
sealant doesn’t work, the al-
ley might need to be torn up
to investigate the problem
further.
“It just keeps happening,”
Franny Gallagher, sound
designer for The Cherry Or-
chard, said. “It was like a mini
river. … This is the third show
in the Forum this semester
and it’s the second show that
has gotten wet.”
And the constant flooding
can only exacerbate the ongo-
ing issue of the rotting stage
in the Forum.
Lincoln said they tested
the stage recently and noticed
the upstage area, which is
furthest from the audience, is
entirely rotted on the left side
of the stage, known as stage
right. Sheets of plywood are
now on top of it so people’s
feet don’t go through it, he
said.
“It’s hard to see part of the
house leaking and you can’t
do anything but get some pa-
per towels,” Gallagher said.
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The tone was somber at 8
E. Washington St. Monday eve-
ning, when Kent Butler, acting
president of Athens City Coun-
cil, asked if councilmembers
had anything they wanted to
say.
Councilman Steve Pat-
terson, D-at large, opened the
weekly meeting by extending
thanks from city officials to
each of the first responders
who spent Sunday extinguish-
ing the flames that engulfed five
buildings on West Union Street.
According to a press release
sent out by the city Monday af-
ternoon, six fire departments
responded to the call, bringing
approximately 60 firefighters
to the scene.
Patterson attributed this to
an agreement made between
various cities in surrounding
areas.
“I think our mutual agree-
ment with other cities is …
working and working well,”
Patterson said.
Despite the many meetings
held by city officials Monday,
Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl said
the city has no plan to assist af-
fected business owners at this
point.
“We’re just trying to get the
place stabilized as fast as pos-
sible,” he said.
According to the news re-
lease, firefighters continued
“spraying down hot spots that
continue to flare up” late into
Monday afternoon.
Wiehl did say that it was
“too early to say what will hap-
pen” following the fire.
“Right now, we’re waiting to
see what the data looks like on
the fire itself,” Patterson said.
Patterson added that city
officials still don’t know what
started the fire that affected
seven businesses on West
Union Street.
“We’ll help out the best we
can,” Wiehl said, adding that
the city would put out notices
with more information as soon
as they could.
Butler added to that senti-
ment.
“Obviously, we want to see
the businesses established and
returned to prominence,” he
said.
Butler, an Ohio Univer-
sity alumnus, said he was im-
pressed with the university’s
response.
“I think that we’re really
lucky to live in a community
where there is so much sup-
port for students as well,” he
said. “It makes me proud to be
a Bobcat.”
Councilmembers also ap-
plauded the way local busi-
nesses rallied around owners
of the destroyed buildings.
Councilwoman Michele Pa-
pai, D-3rd Ward, and Patterson
attended a meeting at ARTS/
West, 132 W. State St., Monday
afternoon.
“(It was) a coordinating ef-
fort in trying to get people to
talk to each other,” Papai said.
Patterson said discussion
pointed to how city officials
could better help employees
that had been laid off due to
the fire.
“It’s the business commu-
nity pulling together to find
employment … for the employ-
ees,” Patterson said.
Councilwoman Jennifer
Cochran, D-at large, further
voiced her concern for the un-
employed.
“You don’t really think
about the extent of the after-
math.”
EMILY BOHATCH
FOR THE POST
@EMILYBOHATCH
EB346012@OHIOU.EDU
@BUZZLIGHTMERYL
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Council extends thanks
to first responders
Flooding in Forum Theater
causes damage, delays
KAITLIN OWENS | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Flooding causes damage in the vomitorium of the Forum Theater in the Radio-Television Building. As a result, the opening of a performance is moved to later in the week.
MERLY GOTTLIEB
STAFF WRITER