St. Mary Catholic School in German Village had to shut down early after its basement filled with up to three feet of sewage when a sewer collapsed on May 22. The sudden flooding forced staff to halt in-person classes and wiped out the building’s summer programming plans. Families were invited back on May 29 to pick up students’ belongings.
Children, staff and families feel the impact
Principal Gina Stull said, “The children are the most impacted by the damage,” and emphasized that administrators and teachers are focused first on student welfare. She told parents that city supervisors visited the campus and will help guide the insurance-claims process. As reported by The Columbus Dispatch, the school is bracing for extensive reclamation work, including tearing out drywall and flooring.
City: collapsed combined sewer caused backups
Columbus Water & Power crews discovered that a section of a 6½-foot-wide combined brick sewer had collapsed underneath German Village, creating a void nearly 30 feet below the surface and sending sewage into basements and out into streets. Workers have installed temporary pumps and bypass piping while engineers figure out the long-term fix. Several nearby streets remain closed as the work continues. The utility told The Columbus Dispatch that permanent repairs could take four to six weeks.
Campus context and next steps
St. Mary recently wrapped up a major renovation and expansion after a campaign that raised about $18.6 million for campus improvements, according to The Catholic Times. The school lists an enrollment of about 484 students at St. Mary School, and leaders say the cleanup will be so extensive that no summer programming can be held in the building this year. Parents and nearby residents are pushing for a clear timeline for repairs and reimbursement for property losses as remediation gets underway.
How to file a claim
Property owners and residents who suffered damage can file a claim with Columbus Water & Power. The City of Columbus lists the utility’s claims office phone as 614-645-6261 and the email [email protected]. City guidance outlines what documentation to include and notes that investigations can take several weeks. For immediate sewer backups or flooding, residents are asked to call 311 or the Sewer Maintenance Operations Center emergency line.
The collapse has left St. Mary leaders and German Village residents weighing cleanup costs against the school’s recent investment in its campus. Officials have not set a firm reopening date, and school leaders say their priority is getting students back into a safe, dry building. The city says it will keep neighbors updated as repair work moves forward.
