DALLAS — More than a week after the Red River Showdown, one hotel is still cleaning up. As thousands of fans packed into Dallas for the big game, ownership at the Crowne Plaza said a guest broke a sprinkler pipe, flooding 17 floors of the hotel.
“When that happened about 150 gallons per minute started flowing out, flooded the whole hotel. Then [it was] about 40 minutes before we got it shut off,” owner Terry Tognazzini said. “It just turned out to be a lot of drama, drama, drama.”
Dallas police are now investigating after someone broke the pipe on the 17th floor and it went down to the hotel lobby.
On game day, Saturday, Oct. 9, the hotel shut down, forcing hundreds of guests to find a new place on one of the busiest weekends of the year. The hotel remained closed until Thursday, Oct. 14. They’ve since re-opened and are welcoming a large group attending a conference this week.
“We’ve worked with massive crews, 30 people, 20 people, trying to get the hotel ready as best we can,” Tognazzini said.
Tognazzini said he is providing police with the information they need and he is preparing to file lawsuits against the person responsible.
“It just turned out to be a lot of drama, drama, drama,” Tognazzini said.