Collapsed ice arena being ground down

The Rostraver Ice Garden's arched trusses that gave way under a heavy February snow are being ground into mulch as the landmark is being demolished. Word has it that the place might reopen on time, and it appears in the photo, below,  as if the owner is keeping Murph's Pub intact.

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.

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Stormageddon trouble drags into second week

An ambulance worker stands ready Sunday afternoon after a large chunk of the roof at Rostraver Ice Garden, Rostraver Township, Pa., collapsed between tournament games involving children from as far away as Canada. Everyone in the building has been safely accounted for, township police said.

By Scott Beveridge

BELLE VERNON, Pa. – It took the Rostraver Gardens to put Rostraver Township on the map after it was built in 1960s in southwestern Pennsylvania farm country.

In no time the local kids took ownership of the landmark - later renamed Rostraver Ice Garden - as most of its activities were designed with them in mind. It was always packed on figure skating nights at a time when few if anyone in the area paid attention to hockey.

Junior and high school students would sneak out back to make out and party, while others tried to impress with their skating skills. It was there that the Rostraver Fair Queen was crowned each summer, and she would make her ceremonial waves to the audience as she circled the arena. And each spring, it would be standing-room-only inside for the Belle Vernon Area High School commencements.

Some of us really thought we were special for having that building and its beautiful and large arched wooden beams supporting the wooden roof.

Eventually, the place went downhill as local interest in ice-skating declined, replaced by better television and the video gaming industry.

A retired banker, Jim Murphy, came along a couple decades ago and made a valiant effort to rejuvenate the place. He built Murph’s Pub with windows overlooking the arena, refocused activities on youth hockey and gave indoor football a chance. But, when I was last in there in 2008, the banquet room was in need of renovating and the place just seemed to have lost much of its appeal.

While running errands this afternoon, I glanced over at the business at Gallitin Road and Route 51 and wondered if that roof was built to withstand the 2 feet of heavy, wet snow we received last week in the disaster known as Stormageddon.

How could I have known then, that two hours later, I would receive a call about a roof collapse at the ice rink? Initial reports had as many as 25 kids being trapped in the banquet hall, news that would later prove inaccurate.

The arena was hosting a President’s Day tournament involving children between the ages of 9 and 12 from Canada, Allegheny County and Erie. One game had ended and another two teams were minutes away from taking the ice when about a third of the massive roof slowly began to fall to the floor.

Concession stand worker Tara Banasick was immediately credited for her heroism for rushing the children and parents out of the building and to safety.

This near-catastrophe surely will leave many teams scrambling to find a place to play out the remainder of their games. It also creates doubt as to whether Murphy will decide to rebuild the place that had become special to so many people.

For example, this comment almost immediately was posted under one of my photos over at Flickr after I posted it there tonight.

“I am so upset about this. I loved that rink. It's a sad end to a great old rink. Had the hardest ice in W.PA. Very bad day.”

Sadly, the collapsed rink is one more nightmare to accompany this storm. And, it seems there is no end on the horizon to the trouble it brought down on the region.

A lost gem of a house in watercolor

By Scott Beveridge

ROSTRAVER, Pa. – Architecture nerds like me had grown to love this old redbrick house that loomed large above a sharp bend in the road approaching a county park in Pittsburgh’s hinterlands.

You couldn’t miss it while slowing to a crawl to negotiate the curve on a drive to Cedar Creek Park in Rostraver Township, Pa. Only a driver wearing blinders would have missed that opportunity.

Its red bricks were softened by age and neglect, but it seemed to still be in solid shape when someone came along and had it torn down nearly 10 years ago.

So I’m especially happy to have taken the time two decades ago to stop and snap a photo of the house, and later use that image to paint the watercolor of it, shown above.

Shortly before it was razed, I sneaked inside to take a closer look at the place at Lynn and Port Royal roads.

Its last occupants had left behind some of their useless belongings, including clothes that were spread in heaps about the rooms. Yet there was no evidence the roof leaked because most of the plaster was still attached to the interior walls. The house was nearly intact down to the original hand carved woodwork.

Even more interesting was a functioning trap door on the living room floor that opened to the basement. It made me pause to wonder if the passage was used to hide fugitive slaves on the Underground Railroad from the people who were in their pursuit prior to the Civil War.

It’s a shame that someone didn’t come along more than a century later to save this house from demolition.

This place is a gas

ROSTRAVER TOWNSHIP, Pa. – The Fairway Inn is off the beaten track, and mostly seen by people who pass their time across the street at the popular Cedarbrook Golf Course.

The bar owners obviously are ticked about the record-high price of gasoline and have a sense of humor, judging by this sign outside the business along Route 981, just off Route 51.

Truth be told, the food they serve is pretty good, better than can be found at most restaurants in the Mid Mon Valley. And the beer is served cold at this inn in Rostraver Township.

(Hey, e-mail us a photo of your favorite "signz" with a description of them and we might post them...)