Wind leaves antenna dangling at stadium
The city is blaming a weekend of violent, gusting winds for knocking a Wi-Fi antenna off an overhead lighting tower at Hamilton’s football stadium.
The good news is the antenna was caught by its safety harness — unlike the infamous, bar fridge-sized speaker that plunged into the stands of Tim Hortons Field in June 2016.
City facilities director Rom D’Angelo acknowledged the dangling antenna was prompting citizen comments and media inquiries, but noted the safety harness functioned “as intended” and there was no danger to the public.
He said it is likely the 80-kilometre-an-hour wind gusts on the weekend contributed to the damage, but added city technicians were inspecting the bracket and replacing the antenna Wednesday. Two summers ago, a 68-kilogram speaker fell several storeys into luckily empty stadium seats — even though it should have been caught by a backup safety wire, which snapped.
That event prompted an inspection of all hanging fixtures in the stadium.
D’Angelo said that now-annual inspection is slated to go ahead again in May.
The stadium has been plagued with deficiencies and construction problems that have formed part of a years-long lawsuit between the city, Hamilton TigerCats, the province and the building consortium over responsibility for costs.
Councillors went behind closed doors Wednesday to discuss a possible settlement scenario, but no public announcement was made following the meeting.