UCLA's Pauley Pavilion Court May Have to Be Replaced: Officials
The arena recently underwent a two-year, $136-million dollar renovation and opened the renovated facility in November 2012.
By Samia Khan and Mario Solis ••
The Westwood water main break caused damage to local businesses and the UCLA Pauley Pavilion meaning repair costs in the future. Mario Solis reports from UCLA for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 30, 2014.
The court of the historic Pauley Pavilion at the University of California, Los Angeles may have to be replaced as a result of flooding to the campus, athletic department officials confirmed Wednesday afternoon.
When asked about replacing the court, Guerrero said, "that's the course of action that we're looking for. No questions about it."
Guerrero said the upcoming Bruin basketball season will not be affected by the recent damage.
Ten million gallons of water gushed onto Sunset Boulevard and the UCLA campus Tuesday afternoon, causing the wood floor to buckle - just two years after the indoor arena underwent a multi-million dollar renovation.
"The court is showing signs of buckling and expansion," Kelly Schmader, assistant vice chancellor for UCLA, said Wednesday morning. "Whether we'll be able to get that saved, I don't know."
The break occurred at the Y-shaped meeting point of a 30-inch pipe installed in 1921 and a 36-inch pipe installed in 1956. Both pipes ruptured and blew open a 20-foot wide, 10-foot deep sinkhole in the 10600 block of West Sunset Boulevard, officials said.
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Water gushed at a rate of 75,000 gallons a minute, damaging UCLA parking structures, buildings and flooding parts of campus. About eight inches of water covered the famed Pauley Pavilion court at one point, but crews had removed most of the water by Wednesday morning.
Ankle-deep water could be seen covering the court’s wooden floorboards Tuesday night. Crews were drying the court Wednesday morning and officials planned to have a better damage estimate later in the day.
"Unfortunately, Pauley Pavilion took quite a bit of water," Chancellor Gene Block said. "It's painful."
The locker rooms also sustained significant flooding, according to the school's athletic department. Water also entered Wooden Center, which houses recreation facilities, and the J.D. Morgan Center, which houses athletic staff and administration offices and UCLA's Athletic Hall of Fame.
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A large sinkhole left behind by a water main break Tuesday July 29, 2014 in Westwood.
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Viewer Image: UCLA FLOOD Youth Track camp evacuated
NBC4 LA User Submission Flood Photo taken by Kyle Wilcots UCLA student
NBC4 LA User Submission Flood at UCLA PHOTO taken by Kyle Wilcots UCLA student
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The sinkhole left behind after a water main break Tuesday July 29, 2014 in Westwood.
Nicole Wasilewicz
About 8 inches of water flooded famed Pauley Pavilion court on the UCLA campus Tuesday July 29, 2014 after a water main break.
KNBC-TV
Firefighters and others remove standing water from inside a building on the UCLA campus after a water main break.
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A utility worker at the site of a sinkhole caused by a water main break Tuesday July 29, 2014 in Westwood.
Street damage from a water main break Tuesday July 29, 2014 in Westwood.
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A water main rupture sent water rushing onto Sunset Boulevard, stranding drivers and flooding the UCLA campus on Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
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A water main rupture sent water rushing onto Sunset Boulevard, stranding drivers and flooding the UCLA campus on Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
Phil Battel
A water main rupture sent water rushing onto Sunset Boulevard, stranding drivers and flooding the UCLA campus on Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
A water main rupture sent water rushing onto Sunset Boulevard, stranding drivers and flooding the UCLA campus on Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
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A water main rupture sent water rushing onto Sunset Boulevard, stranding drivers and flooding the UCLA campus on Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
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A water main rupture sent water rushing onto Sunset Boulevard, stranding drivers and flooding the UCLA campus on Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
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Students trudge through flooding at the UCLA campus after a water main break on Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
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The UCLA campus was flooded after a water main break on Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
Kenny Holmes
Cars could be seen underwater as a water main break flooded Sunset Boulevard and the UCLA campus on Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
A water main rupture sent water rushing onto Sunset Boulevard, stranding drivers and flooding the UCLA campus on Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
A water main rupture sent water rushing onto Sunset Boulevard, stranding drivers and flooding the UCLA campus on Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
A water main rupture sent water rushing onto Sunset Boulevard, stranding drivers and flooding the UCLA campus on Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
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A water main rupture sent water rushing onto Sunset Boulevard, stranding drivers and flooding the UCLA campus on Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
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A water main rupture sent water rushing onto Sunset Boulevard, stranding drivers and flooding the UCLA campus on Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
Kenny Holmes
Water rushed into a UCLA parking structure after a water main break flooded the campus on Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
AP
Los Angeles firefighters help drivers whose cars became stranded on Sunset Boulevard after a 30-inch water main broke and sent water flooding down Sunset and onto the UCLA campus, background, in the Westwood section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
AP
Workers walk down stairs to a parking structure as water cascades down on them on the UCLA campus after flooding from a broken 30-inch water main under nearby Sunset Boulevard inundated a large area of the campus in the Westwood section of Los Angeles, Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
AP
A worker begins the task of cleaning up at least an inch of water covering the playing floor at Pauley Pavilion, home of UCLA basketball, after a broken 30-inch water main under nearby Sunset Boulevard caused flooding that inundated several areas of the UCLA campus in the Westwood section of Los Angeles on Tuesday, July 29, 2014.
AP
People walk down a stairway leading to a parking structure across from Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus after flooding from a broken 30-inch water main under nearby Sunset Boulevard inundated a large area of the campus in the Westwood section of Los Angeles, Tuesday, July 29, 2014. The 30-inch, 93-year-old pipe that broke made a raging river of the street and sent millions of gallons of water across the school's athletic facilities, including the famed floor of Pauley Pavilion, the neighboring Wooden Center and the Los Angeles Tennis Center, and a pair of parking structures that took the brunt of the damage.
AP
One woman pulls another on a body board through water on the quad of UCLA after flooding from a broken water main under nearby Sunset Boulevard inundated a large area of the campus in the Westwood section of Los Angeles, Tuesday, July 29, 2014. The 30-inch, 93-year-old pipe that broke made a raging river of the street and sent millions of gallons (liters) of water across the school's athletic facilities, including the famed floor of Pauley Pavilion, the neighboring Wooden Center and the Los Angeles Tennis Center, and a pair of parking structures that took the brunt of the damage.
Pauley Pavilion opened 49 years ago and is home to many of UCLA’s athletic teams, including the men’s and women’s basketball teams, men’s and women’s volleyball teams and women’s gymnastics. The arena recently underwent a two-year, $136-million dollar renovation and opened the renovated facility in November 2012.
"I'm just wondering how UCLA is going to pay for it, I mean, Pauley looked in really bad shape and they just remodeled it," UCLA student Peter Nauka said.
It is unclear how the flooding will affect the upcoming schedule. The Teen Choice Awards are scheduled for Aug. 10 and the US Volleyball Cup Aug. 16.
Pauley Pavilion can seat approximately 13,800 people.
