The Third Avenue United Church in Saskatoon is relying on a fire hydrant after a water main break at the beginning of August.

"There's this wonderful hose hooked up to the fire hydrant that runs to the back of the building," laughed Mark Turner, the artistic director of the non-profit group Third Avenue Centre that works to bring arts events to the church.

He is trying to raise the money needed to fix the water main, because the church's congregation can't afford it.

"The bill for the water main break, we're looking at somewhere around the $4,000 to $5,000 mark," he said, adding that the church itself is not damaged from the break, but it is still costly to replace.

The church hasn't had an easy go of it lately as the roof needs between $250,000 and $300,000 in repairs and it is also up for sale by the congregation with a deadline of Oct. 4 to submit proposals to buy the building.

Turner is hoping to raise all the money needed to fix the water main through the summer concert series Proms.

The concerts were originally created to provide rental income to the church, but Turner said they became more popular than he imagined.

"They've been incredibly successful. We've got regular people coming out every week who've been calling themselves 'prommers.'"

All of the profits from the concert series will go toward fixing the water main, but as of today, they are still $1,200 short.

The last concert of the summer, featuring the Proteus Saxophone Quartet, is Thursday night at Third Avenue United Church with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.

Admission is by donation and all funds raised will be split 50-50 between the water main break and paying the musicians who are performing.

If you would like to make a donation directly to the water main break, you can drop it off at the wine bar located in the lobby of the church during the concert.

tburdeniuk@rawlco.com

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