FARMINGTON — Two downtown businesses hope to reopen this week after they finish cleaning up the mess left behind by a water main that burst early Saturday morning, flooding several basements along Main Street.

John Anderson, who owns Trask Jeweler’s Inc., lost pretty much everything in his store’s basement, destroyed by the nearly 6 feet of water that flooded into the building, he said.

Professional cleaners, electricians and other contractors spent most of the weekend and Monday working at his 174 Main St. shop. Anderson worked alongside the crews as they sifted through the soggy papers, fried electrical wiring and piles of ruined watch repair parts, he said.

“We’re going through the damage piece by piece and most of everything we’ve found is not salvageable,” Anderson said Monday.

Rebecca Acevedo, a spokeswoman for TD Bank, said the bank’s branch in downtown was also flooded because of the water main break. The water flooded into the bank’s basement and spilled over into the main lobby, reaching about 2 feet in the street-level space, she said.

Acevedo would not discuss what got damaged, saying the bank hopes to reopen some time this week. She said customers were encouraged to do their banking online, by phone or at the branch on Wilton Road until cleanup is finished, she said Monday.

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On Monday, heavy equipment and Dumpsters were outside the bank and pipes ran into the lobby. Tarps, rolled up carpets and fans and cleanup crews hard at work could be seen through the lobby windows.

Anderson awoke about 4:45 a.m. Saturday to a call from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, alerting him of that the water main in the alley behind the bank had burst.

“The water was rolling right out the front door of TD Bank and that’s how somebody noticed it,” he said.

Farmington Fire Department helped the businesses pump the water out of their basements, and the water department was still trying to determine what caused the pipe to break, Anderson said Monday.

Messages left with the water company and the fire department seeking details about repair work were not returned Monday.

At least two other basements in buildings on Main Street had minor flooding, but the bank and jewelry store sustained the worst damage, Anderson said.

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Anderson hopes to reopen as soon as possible this week. His father ran the business before him, and it’s been in town for 156 years. It moved to the location on Main Street in 1975, he said.

“We won’t stay closed for too long because we have a lot of people who rely on us,” Anderson said.

David Robinson – 861-9287

drobinson@centralmaine.com


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