MADEIRA, Ohio — A large sinkhole opened up in Madeira's McDonald Commons Park Thursday after the Tri-State received multiple inches of rain overnight, according to city officials.
Madeira City Council member Brian Mueller said a drain pipe in the park failed, creating a hole 40 feet long, 20 feet wide and 10 feet deep near one of the baseball fields.
Madeira city manager Tom Moeller said the break happened where two pipes connected.
"It's directly at the connection between an older pipe that was installed back in 1975 or '76 and a newer pipe that was installed back in the early 1990's," Moeller said.
City officials said they knew the pipe from the 70's was in need of attention, but the failure happened sooner than anticipated.
"We were actually in the process of evaluating what's to be done with the whole park facility, McDonald Commons. This pipe was going to be part of that evaluation," Moeller said. "Unfortunately the failure has occurred a little sooner than we would have hoped."
Moeller said the sinkhole area will remain barricaded through the weekend. Saturday's 4th of July Fireworks Festival at McDonald Commons Park will continue as scheduled.
Officials said the city expects the hole to worsen as more water flows through the area. Much of the Tri-Stateremains under a flash-flood watch until 8:00 p.m. Thursday.
