Last fall, Sherbrooke, Quebec suffered from severe rainfall lasting for several days, with waters cresting at more than 24 feet above the riverbed. The flood hit a majority of the Bishop’s University buildings both on and off campus, as well as nearby Champlain College. The water damage was extensive, with some students even using canoes to get around campus.
The flood also dealt a serious blow to the planning and orchestration of Bishop’s Centennial Theatre’s inaugural concert. By the time the waters started to recede the theatre’s basement was under several feet of water.
The first show of the season was scheduled for the 15th of October and our crews from FirstOnSite/Première Action had less than 2 weeks to get the theatre concert-ready. Not only did the show go on, but our teams continued to work around the clock and the theatre was ready to reopen completely for the following weekend. The Campus paper called it a miracle:
“It’s a miracle! With the big, window-less trucks, vacuum tubes and sucking sounds, for a while there was some serious doubt about our poor Centennial Theatre. Would they be able to turn the power back on and get back in gear for the arrival of Gord Downie and the Country of Miracles on the 21st? The answer is, yes. And they can do it despite the damage sustained during the now-infamous Deluge of 2010, which led students to coin the term, Lennoxvenice.”