Water damage to the hardwood floor of the main auditorium of the Peter Lougheed Community Centre caused by the leaking base of a basketball net will not be repaired until later in the summer or early fall.
At its Mon., May 26 meeting, council agreed the repairs should not happen during the summer when the auditorium is busy.
“It’s so booked,” said Coun. Mathew Jaycox. “We can’t take it out of service.”
The damage occurred in April and council agreed at that time to keep fans turned on in the auditorium constantly for approximately two weeks in the hopes that the floor may dry out.
However, public works foreman Rick Schmidt said the floor is bulging in the area where the water damage took place.
“It’s still bulged, but now that it’s dry it needs to be re-evaluated and council needs to decide what to do with it.”
Earlier council had looked at the option of removing sections of the floor in the four areas which suffered from the water damage and replacing and resealing the hardwood in those sections at a cost of $10,000.
Another option is to remove sections of the floor in the damaged locations and replace those sections with new hardwood and refinish the whole floor including new floor markings for the courts.
Council will reassess the floor in the fall before they make a decision as to which option they will chose.
In a letter to council, Peter Stenstrom, the former director of community services said council may wish to consider not allowing basketball to be played in the main auditorium.
He said the ball is quite heavy and has caused damage to the ceiling, lights and walls and the portable hoops are accidentally run into the walls by patrons and staff.
“We have done several paint touchups but gouge marks in the sound proofing panels are starting to accumulate.”
Stenstrom pointed out there is likely no ideal solution for replacement hoops as there is not enough room behind the court lines to mount a more stable portable system and mounting a permanent system on the wall or ceiling would reduce the aesthetic appeal of the room.
Storage of the portable hoops is an issue as there are no storage facilities within the proximity of the main auditorium, he said.
Council agreed to move the portable hoops to the arena for the summer.