Bicycle Heaven, a North Side bike museum and shop, has closed temporarily after an apparent burst pipe swamped the facility Saturday, soaking display cases, vintage cycling gear and the carpeting.
Co-founder Craig Morrow said he was scrambling Sunday to limit the damage and dry out the space. He speculated that the museum would be closed at least a week and that losses could reach $100,000.
The nonprofit’s 6,000 bicycles “didn’t get damaged too much,” but valuable cycling accessories and artwork are among a slew of water-logged items, Mr. Morrow said. A variety of publications list the Chateau museum as the world’s largest devoted to bicycles.
“It’s really going to set us back,” Mr. Morrow said Sunday. “We have people who come from other countries, other states every day. This is going to shut us down for a while.”
He said a few adjacent businesses in the R.J. Casey Industrial Park, home to the two-story museum for more than a decade, also saw water damage. They include Heavenly Nails, a salon and spa operated by Mindy Morrow, his spouse.
A phone message left at the park office was not immediately returned Sunday.
At Bicycle Heaven, floodwaters rose 2 to 4 inches on the first floor, with about 3 feet accumulating in the basement, Mr. Morrow said. He suspects the trouble originated in building’s sprinkler system or in another water pipe, he said.
Sub-zero temperatures in recent days seized plumbing across the region. Early Saturday, the mercury in the Pittsburgh area dipped just below zero, according to the National Weather Service.
Mr. Morrow began his bike enterprise about 35 years ago in a house in Bellevue, dreaming that he would “have the biggest bike museum, and we did.” He and Ms. Morrow started the museum formally in 2011.
As holiday closures inhibited initial cleanup — dehumidifiers were in short supply amid store closures for Christmas — he said he didn’t think his insurance would cover all the damage. Having collected vintage items for decades, he doesn’t have receipts for everything on hand, Mr. Morrow said.
A lot of ruined items can’t be replaced, he added. A few friends pulled together an online fundraiser through GoFundMe that had generated nearly $1,500 in contributions for the museum by early Sunday afternoon.
Mr. Morrow said he was keeping the ordeal in perspective.
“Even though this really sucks,” he said, “nobody got hurt.”
Adam Smeltz: asmeltz@post-gazette.com, @asmeltz
First Published: December 25, 2022, 7:06 p.m.
Updated: December 26, 2022, 12:08 p.m.
