The Whitehorse Community Choir’s Friday night Christmas concert became a true community event after flooding at the Yukon Arts Centre.
During the show’s intermission, the pit underneath the stage began to flood. A frozen water pipe burst after a heating coil failed, said Michele Emslie, acting CEO at the arts centre.
Choir members and patrons moved to the Yukon College gym where the show continued.
Volunteers and staff worked to control the damage. “Everyone pitched in and got vacuums and fans and dehumidifiers going,” said Emslie. Water had spread to the lobby and begun to enter the gallery. Protecting items in the gallery was the main concern, said Emslie. Nothing there was harmed, she said.
The centre is open for business as usual, but the public is asked to enter through the front doors and not the side.
The heater’s failure is very unusual, said Emslie. The coil has been fixed, but the amount of damage is still being determined, she said. The sound equipment was not harmed, but some rugs still need to dry completely.
The audience was allowed to attend Saturday’s evening performance for free.
Warrant issued for 98 robbery
Whitehorse RCMP has released a warrant for a man’s arrest after a robbery at the 98 Hotel bar on Thursday morning.
Around 8:20 a.m., police received a call from an employee who had come into open the bar. He said a man came into the bar, struck him on the head and then grabbed the cash till from the bar. The employee tried to get the till back, but the suspect wrestled it back from him. He fled with the till.
A warrant has been released for the only suspect in the case, a 30-year-old Whitehorse man. He is the only suspect so far, and has not yet been arrested, Const. Christine Grant said Monday morning.
The police are not sure how much cash was stolen from the bar, said Grant.