Flooding destroys Vancouver Chamber Choir's 48-year-old music library

The Vancouver Chamber Choir says a flood has destroyed its nearly half-century-old music library and archives.

A pipe burst Friday at the Hodson Manor, a city-owned heritage house in Fairviewthat the choir has used as its production office since the 1980s.

More than a metre of water engulfed the basement office, damaging compositions, music scores, photos and records that date back to 1971, according to the organization.

The choir had stored 334 new choral works by nearly 150 composers and arrangers across Canada. Many of the compositions were provided directly by the composers and never published commercially.

"The flood is devastating," executive director StevenBlanger said in a release. "But we intend to salvage what we can and work diligently to move forward with the upcoming concert season, as planned."

The choir was about to start digitizing its physical copies before the flooding happened. A restoration team is now cataloguing the contents of the office andBlangersaida small portion of the material might be salvaged.

Insurance adjusters are still assessing the damage and the cost of the damage isn't yet known, Blanger said.

For now, the choir will operate out of the main floor of the heritage house. It's not clear when staffwill be able to return to their former office.

"The damage is extensive," Blangersaid. "I can't imagine anything but complete demolition and reconstruction."