Roof collapse devastates glass blowing studio
- February 4, 2015
- / Shannon Nickinson
- / community-dashboard
Scott Novota is four days away from closing on a new studio space for his Strong Street Studio.
Novota and his wife, Molli, founded the glassblowing studio in their East Hill home in 2006. Novota has built a reputation particularly for his glass pumpkins. His work is featured in the Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival, as well as in local stores such as Susan Campbell Jewelry, McAlpin Interiors, Fiore, Urban Objects, and others.
Over the years they’d outgrown the space and are closing on property on A Street near Bill Haven’s car dealership. They have been storing the equipment they’ve collected over the last nine years or so — furnaces, tools, pots for holding colors, benches and the like — in part of the Truth for Youth building owned by the Rev. John Powell.
But the roof of the building collapsed sometime early Monday, Powell says, when water pooled on the already weakened roof, which finally gave way.
“All my equipment is under that rubble,” Scott Novota said. “We got a couple of things right off the outside, but there was a lot of water in it and it inundated the electrical equipment. Even if I get it out of there, I’m looking at a next to total loss on all of the equipment. I’m bummed.”
Now instead of using this weekend to move his equipment into the new space, he’ll be trying to figure out what, if anything, is salvagable from the site. Novota put a conservative estimate on the value of his equipment and tools at $60,000.
His insurance company says because it wasn’t being stored on his property, the loss is not covered by his homeowners insurance.
“That was not a good Monday morning,” Novota said. “Things that are supposed to be kept hot and dry are getting cold and wet. And electrical does not like water and most of that equipment is electric.”
While he remains hopeful that some things may be worth saving, Novota said he can see inside the crumbled building to see some equipment pinned under the ceiling debris, broken or standing in water.
“Maybe big setbacks set the stage for big comebacks.”
Over the years they’d outgrown the space and are closing on property on A Street near Bill Haven’s car dealership. They have been storing the equipment they’ve collected over the last nine years or so — furnaces, tools, pots for holding colors, benches and the like — in part of the Truth for Youth building owned by the Rev. John Powell.
But the roof of the building collapsed sometime early Monday, Powell says, when water pooled on the already weakened roof, which finally gave way.
“All my equipment is under that rubble,” Scott Novota said. “We got a couple of things right off the outside, but there was a lot of water in it and it inundated the electrical equipment. Even if I get it out of there, I’m looking at a next to total loss on all of the equipment. I’m bummed.”
Now instead of using this weekend to move his equipment into the new space, he’ll be trying to figure out what, if anything, is salvagable from the site. Novota put a conservative estimate on the value of his equipment and tools at $60,000.
His insurance company says because it wasn’t being stored on his property, the loss is not covered by his homeowners insurance.
“That was not a good Monday morning,” Novota said. “Things that are supposed to be kept hot and dry are getting cold and wet. And electrical does not like water and most of that equipment is electric.”
While he remains hopeful that some things may be worth saving, Novota said he can see inside the crumbled building to see some equipment pinned under the ceiling debris, broken or standing in water.
“Maybe big setbacks set the stage for big comebacks.”
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