CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Area Senior Services center in Over-the-Rhine is closed until further notice after flooding contaminated much of the building.
Heavy storms over the weekend sent water flooding through the building and left layers of mud and grime behind.
Tracy Collins, CEO of CASS, said they got right to working cleaning. Staff members thought they could clean up in about a week, but then they found the damage was worse than they expected.
"We closed for the day thinking, 'Oh, we can get this out of here'" she said.
As they found they couldn't get a layer of mud off, they decided to close for the week and reopen after Labor Day.
They've already had to rip out all the carpeting and throw out the cloth furniture. But the more a restoration company inspected, the worse the news got.
"The water went up the walls," Collins said. "So there's water in the drywall, there's water in the insulation."
The contamination includes the kitchen that normally serves as many as 80 meals a day.
Collins said the team won't stop cleaning until the center is ready to reopen.
"I don't know what it will take," she said. "We will do it. We're going to open these doors back up."
Anyone who wants to support CASS can visit their website for more info.
