Sprinkler snafu at the Kimmel

A malfunction in the Kimmel Center's emergency sprinkler system caused a flood late Tuesday, forcing the rescheduling and relocation of several upcoming events in the Perelman Theater.

Sometime between 11 and 11:30 p.m., something activated sprinklers installed in the Hamilton roof garden above the Perelman. Within a few minutes, engineer and security staff turned off the system.

The Kimmel Center was dark last night, with no shows in either the Perelman or the larger Verizon Hall.

"The deluge system activates when there's smoke or heat," said the Kimmel Center's acting president and COO, Natalye Paquin.

"The water caused damage to the electrical system and the stage floor of the Perelman Theater, and we're working to understand the cause and the extent of the impact."

Paquin estimated that it would take at least another day for the hall to dry out and for engineers to assess the damage.

Because of that uncertainty, the Rennie Harris Puremovement dance company performances scheduled for this Friday, Saturday and Sunday have been rescheduled to June 20-22.

Jeffrey Siegel's "Keyboard Conversations," planned for Monday evening, will be moved to Verizon Hall.

"Our priorities are safety, and minimal inconvenience to our patrons," said Paquin, "and, on a long-term basis, to find out what went wrong and to correct it so it can't reoccur." *

E-mail Tom Di Nardo at dinardt@phillynews.com.