The City of Cranbrook has closed the Memorial Arena following the discovery of rotting wood in the building’s roof structure.
City officials said this comes as a contracted professional engineering firm found internal decay in the beams and delamination of the wood beam structure, inside and outside the building.
“The City was aware of some roof beam structure issues back in 2008 and undertook some major engineered maintenance work at that time to reinforce and extend the life of the wood beams and usability of the Memorial Arena as long as possible,” said cisy staff. “This work extended the life of the wood beams for years; however, the wood beams are now beyond their useful lifespan due to age and exposure to the elements.”
The area will be closed for the remainder of the season, with the shutdown also impacting the neighbouring arena.
“As the ice plant located at the Memorial Arena also provides the ice surface at the Kinsmen Arena, the Kinsmen ice surface will be unavailable as the shutdown of the ice plant at the Memorial Arena will mean the loss of the ice surface at the Kinsmen Arena,” said city officials.
“The Kinsmen Arena building will remain open as the space is used by the Cranbrook Boys and Girls Club.”
City officials said they are working closely with users of the Memorial Arena to allow for the removal of equipment and other belongings.
“Our team at recreation and culture is making every effort to reorganize our program offerings for the fall and winter months while also finding ways to accommodate as many skaters and user groups at Western Financial Place as possible, with a heavy focus on keeping as many of our young people on the ice as we can,” says Trevor Thors, director of recreation and culture for the City of Cranbrook.
“It is disappointing that we are losing two-thirds of our ice sheets in Cranbrook, but it is good news we still have the ice surface available at Western Financial Place.”
City officials said staff will also reach out to neighbouring communities to find alternative venues for ice time.
“Public works will also be working to install outdoor rinks again this winter around the City as both temperatures and weather allow,” said the city. “City administration is working with city council to determine the next steps around the Memorial Arena.”
