A sigh of relief along North Street as water returns and businesses reopen

Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse, Business Administrator Marc Woolley and Treasurer Dan Miller share a cup of coffee to celebrate the reopening of Elementary Coffee Co. following a water main break.

At Elementary Coffee Co., the water came back on early today and, with it, the doors swung open for the Capitol neighborhood café.

Up and down North Street, there may have been no one happier than owner Andrea Grove.

“I’m so relieved, I’m so delighted,” Grove said. “And now people are hearing and coming back in.”

Elementary opened a few hours late, at 9 a.m. after Grove heard from her neighbor, restaurateur Qui Qui Musarra, that water service had returned to the block.

The businesses, including Mangia Qui, Rubicon, Elementary and Roxy’s Cafe, had been closed since the water stopped running on Sunday, following a break in the 82-year-old water main early Sunday morning on the cozy street of restaurants and residences.

This morning, these businesses reopened, though Capital Region Water maintained its boil water advisory for an area bounded by North, N. 3^rd, Forster and Front streets (see map). Tanya Dierolf, CRW spokeswoman, said that the advisory would remain in effect until further notice.

The East Shore YMCA planned to reopen at 11:30 a.m., though without drinking water from fountains. CRW said that it also will provide bottled water to impacted customers in the neighborhood today at the YMCA from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Grove said the greatest problem was not knowing when water would return and, thus, how long she would be closed.

“It was terrible not knowing,” she said.

Likewise, Staci Basore of Mangia Qui/Rubicon expressed delight at being able to open, especially since her restaurants are booked for the coming Valentine’s Day weekend. Her restaurants won’t be open today for lunch but will reopen today for dinner service.

“It’s good, good, good,” she said. “We were so worried about Valentine’s Day, but now everything seems to be getting back to normal.”

For the latest information on the boil water advisory, visit the CRW website.