What a sad day it is for the area around Pittsburgh. Rostraver Ice Arena gave in to the Pittsburgh weather and the roof collapsed yesterday. The arena partially collapsed while a game was going on, that could of possibly went into overtime, however everyone has been accounted for and is safe. It’s truly a blessing that this situation didn’t injure or kill anyone.
Moving on to the next sad thought about this building, it’s doubtful to be rebuilt, as it was old and decrepit. I remember going there to watch my uncle play hockey, I’ve seen countless ECW events there back when I was younger and wrestling was an awesome thing to attend, and have seen more than a handful of local bands play there. The thing is, everyone has memories of a place that’s been around for ages, and while it’s certainly easier to collect the insurance money and run, it’s a little bit of all of our younger days gone down in snow.
Sure,the boards around the rink were basically concrete. The old stadium style seating that went the whole way around the rink was practically awesome. I guess it breaking down was inevitable, you just never thought it would happen or be so incredibly soon. This story has gotten so big that even major media outlets are getting on in the story. TSN.ca provides these snippets:
A close game, which nearly went into overtime, may have saved a Canadian minor hockey team who narrowly escaped after a partial roof collapse at a suburban Pittsburgh ice rink.
The Ajax Knights Tyke White team were playing in a tournament at the Rostraver Ice Garden, about 48 kilometres southeast of Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon.
The team of seven and eight-year-olds nearly scored a goal to bring the game into overtime, but missed.
“The last couple of minutes we had a lot of chances to tie the game, and if we had tied the game the kids likely would’ve been on the ice when the roof caved in,” said coach Gary Maclean, adding that the collapse has left the children and their parents traumatized.
Maclean said the team had just left the ice for the dressing room when a parent rushed in, screaming that the roof was caving in.
The team had only minutes to leave the building, as they charged for the doors while the old building crumbled behind them.
“It sounded like the pressure crack on a lake, but it was very, very loud, and as the roof caved in it displaced a lot of air,” Maclean told The Canadian Press in an interview.
It would more than a crazy feeling if the place would be coming down around you. Safe to say I’m glad everything is OK, and sad at the same time. Just a terrible thing to happen to a place full of memories.
- Rostraver Ice Garden – Collapsed Roof
Mon, Feb 15, 2010
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