Flooding deals a tough blow to northwest Bend businesses

Several shops, offices forced to close during critical holiday season

Published: December 17. 2008 4:00AM PST

Bitter temperatures caused an upstairs water pipe to burst in a building in Bend’s NorthWest Crossing early Tuesday morning, flooding offices on the second floor and sending water through the ceiling and walls of three businesses below, all of which were closed and scrambling to remove and protect merchandise.

The Bend Fire Department responded first to the burst pipe, which left 1½ feet of standing water in one upstairs office, said David Ford, general manager of NorthWest Crossing. That office and another one upstairs received less noticeable damage than the businesses downstairs, Ford said as fans blasted air throughout the building Tuesday afternoon to dry them out. Two other upstairs offices were damaged but did not have tenants.

Businesses downstairs that sustained damage and were closed were Takara, a home decor and art gallery; Healthy Paws LLC, a dog and cat specialty store; and Portello Wine Cafe. The extent of the damage and time needed for repairs is still unknown, Ford said.

“The main thing now is getting it dried out, cleaned out and repaired,” he said.

Each of the three shops’ owners was considering contingency plans for continuing to operate through the important holiday season.

“The water was gushing,” said Pamela Smith, co-owner of Takara. “I had to get everything out.”

Smith will try to set up her products, which include some damaged works of art and other home-decor items, in another location, she said.

“I will try to set up somewhere,” Smith said. “I had everything decorated for the holidays. Now, I have no store.”

Healthy Paws’ owner David Bolam said he would set up shop at home.

“I am worried about my customers who rely on me for cat and dog food,” Bolam said. “I can still take orders by phone.”

Portello’s owner, Lance Newman, said he would wait to see the extent of the damage before making any assessments about the holidays.

“Obviously, we’re going to be closed for a few days,” he said. “Unfortunately, things like this happen and you have got to deal with it. It just comes at a bad time” before the holidays.

Upstairs offices that were flooded and closed Tuesday were Perry Jones Interior Design LLC and Moementum LLC, a leadership training company founded by Moe Carrick.