Burst water pipe temporarily shutters Don’s Photo Broadway location

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This article was published 01/02/2024 (975 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It hasn’t been a picture-perfect start to 2024 for one downtown Winnipeg photography retailer.

Instead of advertisements in windows, orange tarps face passersby of Don’s Photo. Signs bearing “temporarily closed for maintenance” messages decorate the Broadway shop’s door.

A pipe broke, leading to extensive water damage in part of the building, said Mike Godfrey, president of Don’s Photo.

“Unfortunately, there was no way for them to remedy or fix the space while we were still in there.”

The business has temporarily vacated 379 Broadway, roughly a year after relocating to the site from Portage Avenue.

Don’s Photo continues to operate at its 1839 Main St. location. It brought most of its Broadway staff to the other store, but “a couple” people had to be temporarily laid off, Godfrey stated.

“The challenge we’re facing right now is, we don’t know how long this is going to be going on — if we’ll be back sometime in February or if we’ll be back in April.”

The company will try to avoid temporarily laying off more staff, but it will get harder the longer one of its two Winnipeg locations — and sources of revenue — is closed, Godfrey added.

“We don’t want to put anybody out, especially at this time of year,” he said, adding the closure is a “temporary setback.”

Don’s Photo plans to return to Broadway with the same staff and same product once possible, he stressed Wednesday.

Store management learned of the burst pipe Dec. 27. It happened on the second floor of the three-storey building and spewed water for hours overnight before being discovered, Godfrey said.

The Free Press couldn’t reach the property owner nor landlord by print deadline.

Godfrey said he was alerted to the damage once Don’s Photo’s alarm system started — water coming down from the ceiling shorted the motion sensors.

Arriving at the downtown shop, “That’s when we realized, ‘OK, this is not going to be a quick thing to clean up.’”

There’s major damage to the walls and ceiling, Godfrey said. Products, including cameras and accessories, were also impacted.

Godfrey didn’t have a damage estimate Wednesday, saying he’s still working with an insurance company.

The City of Winnipeg recommended a reporter contact the property owner when asked for specifics on the incident and its restoration timeline.

The Broadway building doesn’t have any new construction permits pending, publicly available city records show.

“It’s very frustrating because it’s not something we can control,” Godfrey said of the potential timeframe to reopen. “Unfortunately, we are the last step.”

The provincial government leases an office space in the building. Employees are working in a nearby office and will return once building repairs are made by the landlord, a spokesperson for the province wrote in a statement.

A property restoration crew has begun work; construction could be heard inside Wednesday.

Pollock & Company continues to operate on the third floor. The law firm’s office wasn’t damaged by the pipe burst. Such “unfortunate, unexpected” incidents happen, said lawyer Martin Pollock.

The landlord does “the very best to take care of his tenants,” Pollock added.

Don’s Photo resided at 410 Portage Ave. for 21 years before moving to Broadway in 2023. The transition happened after a significant drop in foot traffic on Portage, Godfrey said at the time.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com