Telluride, Colorado, located at the base of the San Juan Mountains in the Rocky Mountains, is no stranger to flash floods. But the heavy rains that suddenly hit the area last Friday afternoon were unusually strong and caused several mudslides that struck homes and businesses. “It was a very intense day,” says John Bennett, chief of the Telluride Fire Protection District. Hollywood Reporter.
Among the buildings most affected was the Michael De Palme Theater, the city’s premier performing arts venue. The 30,000-square-foot, 667-seat venue, attached to the Telluride Middle School and Telluride Middle/High School buildings, is used for school plays, proms, professional concerts and other outdoor events – including, every Labor Day weekend, the Telluride Film Festival, which makes use of a surround sound system, a large format digital projector and a widescreen display for some of its highlights.
According to TFPD, which shared a statement and photos on its Facebook page, a Telluride Middle School official contacted TFPD Friday evening after discovering water flowing into the Palm through the damaged loading dock door. By the time crews arrived on scene, between 3 and 4 feet of water and mud had accumulated in the theater, swallowing all the ground floor seats and rising to the height of the raised stage.
says Susan Lilly, TFPD Public Information Officer THR That TFPD evaluated the scene for urgent life safety concerns, such as live electrical wires near pooled water, then ceded it to the Telluride School District. Within hours, school district officials brought in dozens of people from Servpro, a cleaning and restoration company, who began using hoses to haul water from the Palm’s main entrance to the parking lot.
Is it realistic that the Palm will be habitable by the time the Telluride Film Festival kicks off on September 4, less than six weeks from now? “It was a disaster there,” Lily lamented — in fact, Palm Arts, a local arts organization, has begun collecting donations from the public “to help restore and rebuild this precious gathering place.” But the school district and the film festival are working in tandem and doing everything they can to get it up and running by then. In fact, the hope is that The Palm will be able to reopen in two weeks before Film Festival, just in time for Camp Alderwild, an EDM festival that comes to town annually.
“We found out about the flood the day it happened,” says Julie Huntsinger, president of the Telluride Film Festival. THR. “We’ve been working very closely with the school district, and we’re confident things will be ready in time for the festival. We know there’s work they’ll still have to do after the festival, but we’re confident the pieces will be ready at the Palm in time for Labor Day weekend.” “And please don’t rain,” she added with a chuckle. once againSo we can have another great film festival!
John Pandolfo, superintendent of the Telluride School District, and Nicole Hattler, managing director of Palm Arts, could not be reached for comment.
