The Kamloops Film Society says work is underway to repair the damage caused by a burst pipe at the Paramount Theatre downtown.

Executive Director, Dusan Magdolen, tells NL News the impacts to the theatre will be minimal as the facility wasn’t scheduled to be open to the public until Jan. 14 anyway, adding he expects the repairs will be completed before that day.

“The lobby and into the theatre is looking pretty good right now,” Magdolen said. “That carpet is basically dry, but the issue isn’t solved yet. You never want flooding but in all honesty, it really is the best timing that it could have been as far as our operations and that sort of thing.”

“It is never ideal, but it could have been a lot worse.”

Magdolen says the burst pipe – which led to flooding in the women’s bathroom, in the lobby, and into theatre two – was discovered by a staff member who went to the theatre on Sunday, Jan. 2, to set up for a private booking.

The damage isn’t expected to be too significant, he said, noting the staff member used a shop vacuum to mop up the water that was inside the building, adding she also chipped away at some of the ice that had formed on the sidewalk outside because of the drop in temperatures.

“The theatre is going to be fine because water didn’t go in there too too much. I think fixing it wouldn’t be the hugest deal. Its just that, is fixing it enough and are we just going to be dealing with the same issue next year?” Magdolen said, adding the Kelson Group, which owns the building also brought in a remediation company to help with the work.

“We are going to have to go into the wall and figure out how many spots were broken in and fix that up and maybe run the water a different way so that it stays warm when its cold out so that we can mitigate these kinds of issues for the future.”

The Cineplex Theatre at Aberdeen Mall was also closed for a couple of days after water began pouring from the ceiling at about 9:30 p.m. on New Year’s Day. The theatre was reopened yesterday afternoon, Jan. 3.