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FAIRFIELD – Renovations are underway at Addington Place of Fairfield, and most residents have returned to their rooms after they were forced to evacuate more than a month ago when portions of the building were flooded.

Over the final weekend of February, an “unexpected sprinkler system break” affected enough of the building that all residents were relocated, some to Addington Places in other towns and some to live with family in the area.

Josie Heilmann, director of sales at Addington Place of Fairfield, said the building was not too badly damaged, but the flood did touch a lot of areas in the building.

“It did affect one hallway more than the others, and we had to rehome our residents for a brief time in our sister communities,” she said. “Our closest sister communities are Muscatine, Burlington and Mt. Pleasant, and we had residents go to all three of those. Our sister communities were wonderful, but there’s no place like home.”

When The Union spoke with Heilmann in early April, she said the majority of residents are back in their rooms.

“Everybody who wants to come back can come back, and we’re waiting on a few residents coming next week from a sister community,” Heilmann said. “Others are with their families, so they will come back on their time, but their apartments are ready to go.”

Heilmann said that, since the business had to undertake some remodeling, it used the opportunity to refresh many of its apartments. She said the renovations include adding a new area of the building dedicated to arts and crafts.

“We’ve noticed that a lot of residents are interested in making things,” she said. “We have a painting class every other month. We have a lot of people who enjoy puzzles and quilting, so this is a good use of the space.”

Addington Place of Fairfield is open for tours, and plans to show off its recent renovations during a grand reopening in May. Heilmann said she wants the public to know that Addington Place of Fairfield is ready to welcome new residents and guests, and that “we’re planning on staying open for a long time.”