When the snow falls in Crowsnest Pass, Katherine Mertz and her sons aren’t usually kicking a ball at an outdoor soccer pitch.
However, their options are now limited after the arena they play in was locked up by the municipality.
The Municipality of Crowsnest Pass had to shut down the Albert Stella Memorial Arena earlier this week after an engineering report found the structural integrity of the building was compromised.
Get daily National news
“We’re facing the potential of a catastrophic failure,” said Mayor Blair Painter.
“If we get a heavy snow condition or we get heavy winds like what we’ve been experiencing, the structural engineers are saying this building could fail.”
He added the building has been standing since the early 1950s and was subject to a similar report back in 2014.
At that time, the municipality put up about $70,000 to extend the building’s life, but that doesn’t appear to be an option this time around.
Painter said the arena was first flagged in 2011, but that doesn’t make much sense to Mertz who is questioning why something wasn’t done sooner.
“We knew it was coming, and why has nothing been done about it budget wise or plans for if it didn’t go through renovations … (or) anything?” she said.
Mertz said she looked at finding a school gym as an option so kids won’t have to wait for the municipality to find a space, but noted there’s not much open right now.
The municipality said it is working with the affected groups to find alternative options for their activities while the building is closed.
Comments