Roof collapses on Drayton Valley curling rink

A roof collapsed at another arena in central Alberta on Friday, this time in Drayton Valley.

A portion of thecurling rinkroof at the Omniplexcollapsed around 1 p.m.

It is a fairly significant collapse," said Fire Chief Tom Thomson. "Approximately a third of the roof has collapsed.

A water and gas leak was shut down,There were about 12 to 20 people inside at the time but everyone was able to get out safely.

We were fortunate that this incident occurred at a quiet time when the facility is open," Thomson said."Had it been later on in the day, itcould have been more serious.

About 18 inches of snow could be seen on the roof of the building. But at this point, it isnt clear what caused the collapse, Mayor Glenn McLean said.

"We'll see what the appraisers report indicates, we'll see what the engineers tell us in terms of how to deal with this and how to avoid such a situation in the future."

All events scheduled for theOmniplexand theMacKenzieConference Centre have been suspended for the weekend, including a curling bonspiel.

Town officials hope that some parts of the complex can reopen by Monday but the structural engineers have to make that call. It's believed that the section housing the curling rink was constructed in the early 1990s.

The Omniplex has two ice surfaces for hockey, a six-sheet curling rink and a conference centre. It is well-used, particularly in the winter, McLean said.

"When there's a closure, that's a significant event."

On Monday, part of the arena in Sylvan Lake collapsed. No one was hurt in that incident.