Snow load concerns at Trout Creek Community Centre

TROUT CREEK, Ont. — A consultant is worried about the Trout Creek Community Centre’s ability to withstand snow on its roof.

Since the Municipality of Powassan soon intends to install the arena rink ice, Tatham Engineering of Bracebridge has several recommendations for the arena’s short-term use over the winter.

Tatham says in its present condition without any snow load, the community centre can support the roof. However, with regular snowfalls not far off, Tatham is recommending additional support posts be installed for the beams at the perimeter of the rink to alleviate the loading on posts that have deteriorated.

Tatham also recommends the municipality follow “a strict set of requirements to minimize the impact of snow loading.”

The engineering firm says this could include actions like removing snow buildup on the roof and removing snow that piles up on the side of the building.

Tatham’s findings and recommendations are detailed in a preliminary report dated Oct. 21 and forwarded to the Powassan town council.

That report also found there is a distinct mould or mildew smell in the arena lobby but that it’s difficult to isolate the source of the smell.

If it’s the municipality’s intention to operate the community centre this winter, Tatham recommends the town conduct a mould investigation into the lobby “to ensure the space is safe for public use.”

During its Nov. 5 council meeting, Mayor Peter McIsaac noted that the Trout Creek Community Centre roof did start to sag in a few spots ... And there are some stress areas.”

McIsaac said the municipality will reinforce the beams as the consultants recommend to support the snow load. There will be support posts placed on each side of the existing support beams to ensure the Trout Creek Community Centre roof can take the snow load in the future.

With that game plan, the council has directed staff to tender this project.

Council wants the installation of support posts project to come in around $50,000. However, Coun. Randy Hall wanted to know at what dollar amount does council cap the work. Hall asked if the work exceeds $50,000 does the municipality still go ahead with the work?

In response, McIsaac said if the bids are only slightly above council’s target, it’s his opinion the post installations should go ahead.

“But if it’s something like $75,000, council can have a (special) meeting and make a decision at that time,” McIsaac said.

The community centre is about 50 years old.

Tatham Engineering’s report also found that interior columns around the rink have suffered significant localized decay. Tatham says this is the result of the columns coming into direct contact with soil beneath the concrete slab floor.

Additionally, Tatham says exterior wall columns at the rink’s perimeter are exposed to outside moisture and as a result have suffered varying degrees of decay. Tatham notes that in a section where the worst of this exterior wall column decay occurred, the original posts were replaced with pressure-treated blocks. But Tatham could find no record of when this remedial work was carried out.

Tatham told the municipality that the community centre has reached the end of its useful life. It says the decay has been occurring since before a regular assessment program was started in 2007. Tatham adds this decay will continue to worsen which it says increases both the maintenance costs and risk to the building's users.

Tatham says in its opinion replacing the community centre is a more economical long-term solution. It says the alternative to keep the structure in a safe state for the long term requires removing all the concrete surrounding the rink. The removal is necessary to access all the interior and perimeter posts for concrete repair at the supporting piers and replace all the wooden posts.

McIsaac says moving beyond winter, the council’s plan is to get concept and design options for a new arena that include cost estimates. He says once it has that information, the council can discuss what it feels is the best route moving forward on how to replace the Trout Creek Community Centre.

Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter with NorthBayNipissing.com. LJI is funded by the Government of Canada.