Inside the historic Wells Theatre in downtown Norfolk, staff and crew were already days into emergency water cleanup from rain last Thursday when a storm Saturday dumped even more water into the building.
Hundreds of thousands of gallons of rainwater poured down from a two-story section of the building’s roof over the past week, flooding the stage, seating areas, restrooms and backstage rooms, officials with the company said. The building did not flood from the tidal flooding Norfolk regularly sees downtown. Instead, water pooled on the lower roof section and broke through into interior spaces.
“It’s been devastating. It’s really difficult to describe the extent of the damage here,” said Jeff Ryder, managing director at Virginia Stage Co. “There’s some damage to the building that the city is working on, but also extensive damage to our equipment and the set for our upcoming production.”…