Roof leak causes water damage to city-owned HIVE building in downtown Grand Forks

May 7—GRAND FORKS — Portions of the city-owned Hybrid Innovation Venture Engine, commonly referred to as the HIVE, were damaged by water on Sunday, May 7.

City Administrator Todd Feland said maintenance crews were able to contain the leak, which was caused by a drain on the roof that had become dislodged.

Feland said most of the flooding occurred in the Grand Forks Herald office space located on the second floor of the building, along with the kitchen area and two training rooms on the first floor. Crews were working Sunday afternoon to clean the flooded areas. Damage to the Herald office space was spread among four rooms, including the main room in the office. Downstairs, there were notable pools of water in several areas of the recently renovated building.

The HIVE, formerly the Herald building, has undergone

interior renovations

throughout the past year. Construction in the building started in March 2022, with funding for the construction costs coming from a $1,079,646 grant. The funds were awarded to the Grand Forks Jobs Development Authority and came from the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

The inside of the building now features conference rooms, classrooms, multipurpose use space, a boardroom, work spaces, offices and tenant suites. The goal of the building is to support companies, startups and entrepreneurs centered around the aerial and autonomous systems (UAS) industry, along with the data processing and imagery analysis that goes hand-in-hand with UAS.

Roof leaks in the building aren't new. Feland said over the last year there have been leaks in various locations of the building that have been fixed.

Herald Publisher Korrie Wenzel said this is the most extensive water damage yet in the Herald's office.

"There have been four or five times it's leaked on us already and it's the worst one yet," said Wenzel,

who listed the leaky roof as a problem when he spoke to City Council on April 17,

after the Herald was initially denied leaving early from its five-year lease. On May 1,

the JDA reversed its decision, allowing the Herald to leave

.

Wenzel said the timing is unfortunate — a local moving company is scheduled to arrive first thing Monday morning. The newspaper's furniture and boxes of files were stacked closely together in anticipation of the movers arriving. Those stacks received the worst of the water on Sunday.

After several Herald staff members came to clean up and assess the damage, Wenzel said it appears the loss mostly is confined to paper files and supplies. He figures most of the office furniture likely will be able to be salvaged.

"We'll be OK. It looks like it's a nuisance more than anything," he said. "It's just bad luck."

Feland said the roof is scheduled to be replaced in June, which was the soonest those repairs could be scheduled.

"Obviously, the roof needed to be replaced and was scheduled to start here in June," Feland said. "It's unfortunate that we're at this place — we couldn't get it done in time."

Feland said work associated with the roof is likely going to cost between $200,000 to $300,000, which will come out of the city's maintenance funds.

In addition to the work on the roof, the building's HVAC also will be replaced in June. Feland said the unit was delayed due to supply chain issues.

As of Sunday, Feland said the flooding shouldn't affect the May 8 Committee of the Whole meeting. Since the end of February, council meetings have been held in the HIVE as council chambers in City Hall are undergoing renovations.