Copper thieves cut off water supply for Albany outreach center | News

ALBANY - Finally, near noon Friday, the water came back on at St. John's/St. Ann's Outreach Center at Fourth and Franklin in Albany's South End.

That meant people like Elizabeth Samuel could once again plan on the free Saturday and Tuesday welcome table meals that serve a couple of hundred families.

"Food, healthy foods, meat loaf and it's just like you can invite your whole family," Samuel said.

When thieves ripped off all the copper pipes in a closed bath house they cut off the water supply.

That was almost two weeks ago.

City officials reacted very slowly until word started circulating in the media.

That changed the water drought to a restorative gusher.

Mayor Jennings stopped by while we were working on the story to prod director Barbara Quinn to let him know personally should anything like this happen in the future.

"We're going to pick up the cost of the water line back into the building because they're not in the position to really come up with five thousand dollars," Jennings said.

Why was the bath house water supply tied to a neighboring building to begin with?

Well, the outreach center building used to be a city firehouse, so saving a few bucks by taking a plumbing shortcut a hundred years ago ended up inconveniencing a whole community a century later.