A water main break on Saturday caused four blocks of Spruce Street to be shut down, disrupting traffic near several Penn Medicine facilities and forcing a two-day closure of Houston Market.
The incident affected traffic near the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, and the Clifton Center for Medical Breakthroughs. In a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian, Penn Facilities and Real Estate Services senior communications specialist Bianca Swift wrote that the closure was caused by “two separate, underground water main breaks on Spruce Street near 34th Street.”
The Philadelphia Water Department and the Department of Streets are still assessing the site to determine the scope of roadway repairs, and a timeline for full restoration has not yet been announced.
On Feb. 15, PWD crews repaired the eight-inch water main, and work continued on Feb. 16 to address the second leak which connected to a nearby fire hydrant line.
“Crews are working to complete repairs as soon as possible, but the road closure may last for several weeks,” Penn Medicine wrote.
Route 40 will be used as a detour around the closure, which could add to travel time in the area while the roadway remains under construction.
On campus, the water main breaks disrupted food service at Houston Market and Market Café — although Houston Hall remained open.
According to Swift, Penn was in “continuous contact with the Philadelphia Water Department” which “responded immediately to the issue” on Saturday afternoon, and has “worked under challenging conditions to locate and repair the leaks.”
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Penn Dining initially announced that Houston Market was closed for maintenance on Sunday. However, a subsequent message to the Penn community later that day stated that Houston Market would remain closed “until further notice” and that facilities would begin monitoring the progress of water main repairs on Monday.
The leaks had been repaired by Tuesday afternoon, according to Swift.
On Monday, Penn Dining wrote that the food hall would be “temporarily closed for dinner” that evening. Market Cafe and Houston Market reopened on Tuesday — at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.
Penn Dining expressed gratitude for the University community’s “patience and understanding” as its teams worked to “resolve the situation.”
The Feb. 14 water main breaks were the latest in a series of infrastructure incidents affecting Penn buildings in recent weeks.
On Feb. 9, Harnwell College House was evacuated due to a “facilities emergency,” during which its lobby flooded and package center closed.
Water could be seen leaking from the lobby’s ceiling from the outside of the building, which Senior Associate Director of Building Operations Paul Forchielli attributed to “sprinkler discharge” in an email to Harnwell residents.
Students began reentering the building — which officially opened that evening — through accessible doors shortly after the evacuation. Harnwell’s package room reopened the following day.
In January, the lobby of Platt Student Performing Arts House was also impacted by a “major leak” that required them to close the lobby. Days later, flooding was reported in King’s Court English College House and the ARCH building.
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Staff reporter Hailey Hilsabeck covers facilities and infrastructure and can be reached at hilsabeck@thedp.com. At Penn, she studies cinema and media studies and English. Follow her on X @hhilsabeckk.
