An early morning water line break has shut down the City Center as crews work to repair it.

The 10-inch line broke at approximately 8:30 this morning leaving the city building and surrounding businesses without water.

As of 12:30 p.m. when the city building was closed Ironton Mayor Rich Blankenship said he has no estimated time for the repair to be completed. About a half-hour later, the courthouse was closed, except for the county engineer’s office.

“I am afraid to guess,” he said. “You never know what you will run in to. It is warming up and the ground is drying and they tend to break. Even though we have had one or two days of hot weather, the ground is moving those lines.”