BOWDEN — The town has dodged a huge financial bullet when it comes to the Igloo Arena roof.
Nearly a year ago, council received a report indicating it could cost $2 million or more to fix anticipated issues in the roof, such as moisture damage or trusses believed to be “overutilized.”
However, mayor Robb Stuart says it now looks like the bill for repairs will be a tiny fraction of that.
"The arena’s been inspected and there’s no issues there. There’s some minor maintenance that needs to be done; probably about $25,000 maybe at the most,” Stuart said during an interview with the Albertan.
Stuart said given the new information, the plan is to simply monitor the roof and see what happens.
“If we monitor it every two to three years, it should last 10 or 15 years and then we’ll have to decide what’s happening then,” he said.
In mid-February last year, Bowden town council considered a report from ISL Engineering and Land Services Ltd.
That report found that screws in the metal part of the roof appeared to be pulling out, thereby allowing some moisture to seep in and likely damaging the roof. Also, some roof truss braces and columns were found to be “over utilized."
The ISL report said the town could fix those problems for an estimated cost of $2.07 million.
Greg Skotheim, the town’s chief administrative officer at the time, noted that in essence, the facility has two roofs and the concern is there is likely moisture between the two roofs which is causing rot and possibly other issues.
The municipality was told at that time that the arena is safe to use, as long as the roof doesn’t bear more than seven inches of snow.
Skotheim said it’s his understanding the arena dates back to the 1970s.
