Roof issues cause arena closure

Hundreds of rink users at Stu Peppard Arena in the southwest are looking for new ice times after officials were forced to close the facility over a roof safety issue.

A regular facility check found that the facility’s roof was bowing at one end on Thursday so officials decided to close the facility located at 5300 19 St. S.W.

Contractors have been called in to assess the problem and repairs will be done as quickly as possible.

The junior, elite, and community leagues games scheduled at Stu Peppard between January 17 and February 3 will be moved to other rinks across the city.

Hockey Calgary says they are also working to reschedule the 44 practice periods scheduled at the arena to other area rinks.

"It has an impact, without question. Our games are even shorter than the average game around the province just because of the shortage of ice but practice is where the kids learn to play the best and when we're not doing that, that will have an impact on their ability to continue to develope," said Perry Cavanaugh from Hockey Calgary.

Engineers are taking a look and hope to have a report to the city in the next few days.

"Our hope is that, based on the reports, it shouldn't be shut down for too long, and we're planning on trying to get this work done as soon as possible, once we know exactly what's taken place," said Ray Peltier from the city.

Nearly 80 events were planned at the facility and have been cancelled until further notice.