Northern Wyoming News - Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years

LOVELL (WNE) — Saturday afternoon, Dec. 24, a water line broke at Lovell’s historic Hyart Theatre, sending water flowing into the lobby, out onto the sidewalk and into the street.  

The break was caused by the recent spate of frigid temperatures across the West. 

The theater is closed for now, but the damage could have been much worse, Hyart Redevelopment Committee president Mike Steenbakkers said Tuesday, noting that the damage was limited to the very south portion of the building adjacent to Main Street, mostly the lobby, with the theater itself, projection room, stage and screen left unscathed.

There was no movie scheduled on Saturday, Christmas Eve, and late that afternoon Bible Church pastor Kurt McNabb was driving down Main Street and noticed water pouring out of the lobby and immediately called the Lovell Police Dept.

The burst pipe was above the lobby in an area of the building on the far south end that once housed offices but is now used for storage, Steenbakkers said.

Members of the Hyart staff came to clean up and move things Monday, and Kleen Kare of Powell responded Monday for remediation, placing drying devices in the lobby. 

“The Hyart Theatre lobby area suffered serious water damage after the severe cold temperatures burst a pipe last week; we will be closed for movies until further notice,” a statement on the Hyart website reads. 

Steenbakkers said that while the damage was serious, it could have been worse.

“We were lucky, because it ran to the front door,” he said. “There was no water in the theater, the projector room, the stage or (near the) screen. It didn’t even run into the restrooms.”

This story was published on Dec. 29, 2022.