Susan Foster was having a rough day Tuesday after what seemed like a minor plumbing problem turned into a major project.
Foster, the director of the Perry County Senior Center in Perryville, said the problem began when she called a plumber to take a look at a clogged pipe.
“What’s happened now is the pipe from the center of the kitchen to where it ties into the other in the lobby is rotten on the bottom,” Foster said. “There’s nothing there. They’ve dug up the kitchen, they dug up my office — which were the two bad spots — and we’ve shut down work for now because the city would like to try to line the whole thing instead of digging it all up.”
As a result, Foster is now working at a folding table in the Center’s dining hall — “I can’t even get internet here” — and the kitchen, which normally feeds more than 230 homebound seniors five times a week, will be shut down for at least two weeks.
It’s that last bit that really had Foster upset.
“When we shut down on March 17, we signed up 80 homebound clients,” said Foster, referring to the date the center stopped serving meals in the dining room because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We’re serving a ton of meals and these people depend on us. We have to be there, to check on them and take them their food.”
With the kitchen out of commission, Foster and her staff have been working on developing alternative menus.
“Trying to come up with a menu that we can keep safe without a kitchen is tough,” Foster said. “We don’t have a way to keep anything warm.”
It’s also forced some temporary schedule changes. Already this week, the center suspended meal delivery on Tuesday and will do so again on Friday, a pattern that may continue next week, with delivery service on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
“Trying to come up with a menu that we can keep safe without a kitchen is tough,” Foster said. “We don’t have a way to keep anything warm.”
It’s also forced some temporary schedule changes. Already this week, the center suspended meal delivery on Tuesday and will do so again on Friday, a pattern that may continue next week, with delivery service on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.
The fix, Foster said, shouldn’t be that complicated. The crew doing the work feels they can use a liner — similar to those used earlier this year on city water mains — and only have to replace two sections of pipe.
“From what I understand, they says it’s possible to shoot a liner through, even if it’s rotted out on the bottom,” Foster said. “Even if they get that done this week, the hole is under where my stove goes. We still have to fill in the hole, then retile, then grout, then move all my furniture back in — not to mention the cleanup. The dust is an inch thick everywhere.”
Once all that’s done, Foster hopes everything gets back to normal. Or at least as normal as it can be.
“I just want to apologize to all our clients,” Foster said. “It’s taken longer than we ever thought it would. The problem was a lot more serious than we thought it was, and we’re doing our best.”
