By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

 Owners of the Mill at Saco Falls this week worked to patch a breach in a Saco River retaining wall that led to the evacuation of seven apartments.

Nathan Szanton, who owns the newly renovated Biddeford apartment complex with Robert C.S. Monks, said tenants in seven first-floor apartments left their apartments Saturday as water rose near their windows.

The wall was breached because of higher water and strong currents, according to city officials. City officials ordered tenants to leave the building and said they could return to their apartments when the wall is fixed or the river subsides.

The rising water did not reach first-floor windows and did not enter the building. No one was injured, Szanton said.

 “We’re not worried about the water rising above the level of the windows,” he said.

Szanton said water on March 16 breached a “very old” section of wall built in the 1840s. On Monday, water continued to swirl through the area, which is generally dry. He said it is lucky the water looped back to the river instead of toward the building.

A brick-encased sewer pipe was compromised by the water and is now leaning, Szanton said.

“If it were to fall, it would divert water toward our windows and water could go through the windows,” he said.

Szanton met with engineers and a construction firm Monday afternoon to make plans to temporarily fix the breach. He said a crane will be used to lower 2,000-pound sandbags into the hole. Thirty-pound sandbags were placed in the hole last week but were overcome by water, he said.

Szanton expected repair work to begin Wednesday.

First floor tenants are staying in hotel rooms paid for by the building owners while the work is done. Szanton said his company also paid for their belongings to be temporarily relocated to an empty apartment on a higher floor.

“We feel bad for our tenants,” he said. “We want them to enjoy living here. This is definitely something no one enjoys.”

The 66-unit apartment building opened in November in the former Laconia No. 1 mill on the banks of the Saco River overlooking the falls. The building was constructed in 1845.