Here is what the owner of the indoor hockey arena had to say to the Observer-Reporter newspaper two months ago about his plans to rebuild:
The roof at an indoor Mon Valley ice rink likely collapsed last month because of a disproportionate load of snow atop the structure, the owner announced today.
An engineering firm made the determination because of drifting that put 5 feet of snow on one side of the roof at Rostraver Ice Garden and about 18 inches on the other, owner Jim Murphy said.
He made the announcement during a news conference, where he firmed up his plans to rebuild in time for the start of the next hockey season in early September.
"We're going to be able to pull this off," Murphy said. "It's not going to be an easy task."
No one was injured when a large section of the roof slowly fell onto the ice Feb. 14 during a break in a youth hockey tournament.
Nearly 100 people fled the 50-year-old building that afternoon as the compression blew food off plates at two parties, Murphy said.
"You could sense the overall fear throughout the facility," he said.
Pressure from the collapse of three arched wooden trusses also lifted other roof support beams off their foundations, damaging them significantly, Murphy said.
Four of the other eight trusses probably will be demolished because of the damages, he said. In all likelihood, a new prefabricated steel building will be erected over the ice rink.
Murphy said the building is insured for $3.5 million, and that the rink did not appear to sustain damages. Debris removal should begin this week, he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment