Rinks safe, properly maintained, mayor says

Mayor Naheed Nenshi said Calgarians shouldn’t be worried about the safety of the city’s aging hockey rinks, after parents and sports authorities raised safety concerns following the Fairview Arena roof collapse this week.

City officials are still probing what happened Tuesday when the roof of the 46-year-old facility in southeast Calgary collapsed, just one day after a loud crack was heard during a hockey game, prompting staff to evacuate the building.

Nenshi said the episode is actually indicative of an inspection and maintenance system that’s working well.

“This is a case where the system worked: where an inspection showed us on Monday there might be a problem. We evacuated, and, thank goodness, there was no one there,” Nenshi said.

“But that said, we will continue to be proactive and making sure that we catch this stuff before it happens.”

Following the collapse, parents and local hockey authorities spoke to Postmedia about their concerns for the safety of players.

Councillor Gian-Carlo Carra said Thursday that Calgary follows the industry standards for inspections, which should be sufficient to ensure building safety.

“But, of course, given what’s happened, we’re reassessing whether that’s good enough,” said the Ward 9 councillor.

“And also whether we have any ticking time bombs like the Fairview Arena’s roof anywhere else in our inventory.”

Nenshi said the city takes the care of these facilities very seriously.

He pointed to steps the city has taken in recent years to allocate 50 per cent of the community infrastructure fund to the maintenance of existing facilities in the municipality.