Grant Utilities Inc., based out of St. Paul Minnesota encountered a unique job in mid-January during winter climates of 2 degrees. Grant Utilities is honored to be a part of the (pipe) rehabilitation to Forepaugh’s Restaurant. It is the most prestigious and historical restaurant in the St. Paul area. The residents of St. Paul as well as the staff at Forepaugh’s are reminded of why this restaurant is so prominent, as the ghosts of Joseph and Molly join these dinner guests time to time. The story is this Victorian building had quite a spooky past and is said to be haunted till this day! In 1870 by Joseph L. Forepaugh, a respected Senior Partner of the largest dry goods, J.L Forepaugh and Company. Joseph built this lavish mansion for his wife, Mary and their two daughters, in later years this showpiece would be transformed into a restaurant. This showpiece was nothing was a hoax! Respected businessman, Joseph was having an affair with his maid Molly, Mary soon found out and insisted the romance end. The tragic ending, forbidden love and dual suicides. An ugly story hidden behind a beautiful historic building, like that of the grueling job Grant Utilities began.The manager of Forepaugh’s exclaimed that the restaurant was continuing to have backups on a regular basis; after the pipeline was televised the problem showed a break at the 4″/6″ transition that lied under huge HVAC units. These HVAC units were taking in large amounts of dirt; Grant Utilities crew knew they needed to move quickly to complete the job successfully. The clean out access was in the kitchen, which meant installing the liner there was not an option, Grant Utilities spent their day digging a 12′ deep trench and left to return at 11PM, after the dinner crowd parishes. The transition liner was shot back toward the building, sealing off the 4″/6″ transition. Grant Utilities used ambient cure method, and even with 2 degree weather, the pipes cured in 6hours. Looking back now Grant Utilities mentions how a steam unit would have been helpful for this job.
