Paperback Exchange, Terzo, and Sparrow Cafe closed indefinitely following water main break damage

The businesses on the southwest corner of 50th and Penn, Paperback Exchange (2227 W 50th St.) Terzo (2221 W 50th St.) and Sparrow Cafe (5001 Penn Ave S), and Theisen Renovation, plus Lake Harriet Florist, Scuba Center, and Lake Harriet Pizza next door are closed indefinely following a water main break on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025 at about 3:30 a.m. Tenants are waiting to learn if the building can be restored or is irreparable.

From the Go Fund Me page for Paperback Exchange: 

Early Thursday morning, a burst water main flooded The Paperback Exchange, completely filling the basement and a good 12+” of the main floor. As you can imagine, that’s devastating for a bookstore. We are heartbroken. Probably 70% of our stock is completely ruined, over 100,000 books lost, as most of our inventory was stored in the basement, which was fully submerged.

Of course, the entire bookstore needs to have remediation done to remove the wet books, shelves, carpet, etc. as well as numerous repairs.

Our insurance will not cover everything, as the damage is so extensive (our coverage just didn't go that far). However, in the next few months we will have numerous expenses, most importantly to help the 5 hardworking employees who are now without work.

In addition, bookstore owners Marion and Keith Hersey live around the corner from the Paperback Exchange, and there was so much water from the burst pipe that it actually flooded their basement, and currently the insurance is denying their claims.

We've created this GoFundMe to humbly ask for your support to help us to cover some basic expenses for the coming months. Sadly, insurance will not fully cover the loss of our precious books that we collected over the course of 50 years. We hope this GoFundMe will help us with the losses we sustained, support our employees during this time and give us a jump start on a potential reopening down the road.

The future is currently uncertain. We don't know at this time what a new incarnation of the bookstore will look like, but we hope to make the best of the books that were saved. We really appreciate the outpouring of support people have given us online and in person, and especially all of those hardworking people who showed up to move the books that didn't get soaked.

We set an initial goal of $20,000, however any funding that we may receive over this goal will be put to good use in the hopes of reviving the bookstore.

As of Tuesday morning, Feb. 18, 85 people had donated $5,418.

Paperback Exchange is a locally owned and independent bookstore established in 1975. Prior to the water damage, it had 150,000 books in stock ranging from current bestsellers to out-of-print oddities.

Next door, Broder's Pasta Bar posted this on Instagram about Terzo's at 2221 W 50th St.: "In the early hours of Thursday 2/13, a city water main below 50th street broke and an astounding amount of water infiltrated Terzo’s basement and main floor. We appreciate the quick response from the public works and first responders. We are working with the city to understand the scope of damage, what the timeline looks like, and how we can support our team members directly impacted.

We’re happy to report that Broders’ Cucina Italiana and Broders’ Pasta Bar are not impacted and will be open for regular hours and service."

On the Terzo Instagram page: "This was not the Valentine’s 2025 we were planning for. The support from the community has been overwhelming and we can’t thank you all enough. The road to recovery is one day at a time and reminders like this keep us moving forward. We are not alone in the impacts of this disaster and appreciate the community coming around us all, including our building neighbors @paperbackexchangempls @sparrowcafe "

Sparrow Cafe has not posted anything to its social media accounts and its phone number was disconnected on Tuesday morning, Feb. 18.

From Ward 13 Council member Linea Palmisano on Feb. 14:

Early yesterday morning, I learned of a large water main break at the intersection of 50th and Penn. This break has left significant amounts of standing water in the area and poses issues for neighboring properties due to the freezing temperatures.

City staff has worked hard to provide prompt, coordinated response. The Minneapolis Fire Department was the first on the scene at 3:30 a.m., responding to reports of a fire alarm. They were followed by the Water Department, Police, and Community Planning and Economic Development Department. Public Works cancelled all their other jobs yesterday and sent every possible crew member to the scene to help. We are going to be dealing with the effects of this for a long time, and our locally owned businesses will feel this, too.

I am especially grateful to residents who live near the intersection, some who had to be evacuated, for their patience and cooperation as we work in the intersection. We have personally spoken with each business owner in the area and will continue to share regular updates from Public Works as this situation evolves. Please avoid the intersection of 50th and Penn for the time being.

From the Go Fund Me page for Sparrow Cafe: