Indoor playground closes after water damage caused by burst pipe

In February, the indoor playground at The Grandstand, formerly known as Turf City, had a burst water pipe and had to close for a day.

In July, there was another incident involving a burst pipe.

But, this time, it was so bad it had to close for good.

On Tuesday night, Kiddy Fun, a four-year-old indoor playground for children, announced on its Facebook page it will not be reopening for business.

When TNP visited the premises yesterday, the place was a mess. TNP PHOTO: CATHERINE CHANG

Catering to children up to six years old, it said in the post that flooding caused by a burst pipe in its ceiling on July 4 had killed its business.

It said: "The company is unable to continue after the catastrophic nature of the flood caused by the burst building water pipe and the subsequent water damage to the playground and its equipment."

The New Paper understands from other tenants that the water pipe in the middle of Kiddy Fun's premises had burst overnight on July 4.

When the tenants came to work the next morning, they found the lobby outside Lift 4 at The Grandstand, a lifestyle destination at Bukit Timah, flooded.

They thought it had rained overnight.

But it was only when they looked through the glass panels fronting Kiddy Fun that they realised the severity of the situation.

Water was dripping continuously from the ceiling and the floors were flooded.

The director of Sunflower Baby House, an infant and childcare centre located on the same floor, told TNP his business was not affected.

A staff member of a gymnasium next to Kiddy Fun said they experienced about 3cm of flooding in the area closest to Kiddy Fun.

It had to be closed for two days to clean up and repair the damage.

This is not the first time Kiddy Fun had experienced leakage from a water pipe.

On Feb 6, Kiddy Fun announced on its Facebook page that it had to close temporarily due to a leaking water pipe in the ceiling.

An Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) check shows that Kiddy Fun is owned by Mr Andrew Ward and Ms Rachel Ward, but they could not be contacted by press time.

AWARD

Last year, Ms Ward received the Singapore Outstanding Enterprise award for her management of Kiddy Funand she had said in interviews that she hoped to open three more centres.

The burst water pipe in July had also affected other tenants at The Grandstand.

A manager at Ah Yat Seafood Restaurant, on the floor below Kiddy Fun, told TNP that water supply was temporarily cut that day.

He said the building management supplied mineral water to the restaurant to help it through the period.

On the ground floor, staff members of Nam Kee JB Handmade Pau, said they had to close their store for the day.

They said water and electricity supplies were affected as water from above had seeped into their electrical switchboard.

An employee of Pies & Coffee, also located on the ground floor, told TNP there was a continous flow of water coming from the higher levels outside the cafe.

The floor was also flooded, and there was a pool of water outside the cafe, said the man who wanted to be known only as Andy.

Madam Andrea Lee, 32, was disappointed to hear of Kiddy Fun's closure.

She said: "I loved how I could let my girl play freely at Kiddy Fun without worrying if she would hurt herself.

"It is the indoor playground we visited the most with our girl, and it gave us plenty of sweet memories."

While Madam Lee has not been to the playground since her membership expired in July last year, she was planning to visit it soon with a friend whose baby had just turned one.

The Grandstand's management office declined comment yesterday, telling TNP that the case was still ongoing.