The Town of Morinville will spend $300,000 to repair the roof of its arena.
Heavy rain in August and September caused water to leak into the Morinville arena. A review of the roof and its underside determined its membrane was past its useful service life and required immediate repairs.
On Oct. 9 administration advised city council to get the repairs underway. Waiting for the next council meeting would have caused a minimum two-week delay.
Andrew Isbister, Morinville director of financial services, said emergency repairs are now taking place and will be completed in the next two weeks.
“There is no threat of the roof collapsing but with winter coming … and then you get snow on the roof and end up with it leaking onto the ice surface,” he said.
“It had to be addressed and looked after.”
The arena was relocated to Morinville from Namao in the 1960s. The building had previously been used as an aircraft hangar.
The repairs are currently expected to cost about $300,000, with money coming from two capital projects that were put on hold in 2012 and another $70,000 from reserves.
Replacement of the old arena will not take place for another three to five years.
