Newsflash, Feb 8 2005 - PAPA 8 World Pinball Championships
Newsflash, Dec 6 2004 - PAPA Announces Plans to Rebuild

Flood Destroys PAPA Headquarters

On the evening of Friday, September 17, 2004, just five days after the end of the PAPA 7 World Pinball Championships, an unusually severe flood put the PAPA facility under five feet of water. Prior to this, the facility had not flooded since the 1950's. In the 1960's, nearby Chartiers Creek was retrenched and new drainage systems were put in place. There had been no flooding since that time.

This flood was well beyond the "100 year flood line" and was essentially a freak occurrence. The remnants of Hurricane Ivan dumped a recordsetting 5.95 inches of rain on the Pittsburgh area in just a single day, on top of already saturated grounds from record rainfall throughout the year. The Carnegie area, where PAPA is located, was particularly hard hit. Further discussion of this flood is available here.

The floodwaters carried silt, debris, sewage, and diesel fuel. Every pinball machine was submerged at least up to the backglass, and every surface within five feet of the ground, including playfields and inside cabinets, has been coated in the floodwater sludge. The sludge is a sanitary hazard and will have already destroyed sensitive materials.

Two hundred and thirty-two pinball machines have been destroyed, as well as a handful of classic video games, an extremely rare Tattoo Assassins prototype, a sitdown Omega Race, some great dancing games, et cetera. We do expect to be able to salvage plastics, some boards, coin mechs, backglasses, and most of the playfield glasses. Nothing will be done until a professional cleanup and restoration company has been through the facility.

Pictures of the original renovation progress are here.
Pictures of the floodwaters rising are here.
Pictures of the post-flood damage are here.

On December 6, 2004, plans were announced to rebuild and relaunch PAPA for 2005. The latest news will be posted here.