Go Figure

The Community Centre has a roof span equal to the ice surface plus a bank of seven rows of seats on all sides. The roof is arched. Under the foil- baffle-like material, there's a beautiful redwood ceiling. It had to be covered in a retrofit some years ago.

An arena environment is heavy with condensation. Ice is resurfaced with hot water several times during a game. Players sweat profusely. It drips off the ends of their noses and strands of their hair. It runs down the sides of their faces to drip off their chins. They shower in the arena. Gear is saturated when they finish a game. At home, it has to be spread everywhere to be dry enough for the next game. And Boy does it stink.

Spectators contribute moisture. There are seats for eight hundred. They wrap up warm against the cold and breathe into the atmosphere. Sometimes they get boisterous and shout and yell and pound the air with their fists.

In summer, there is no more moist air than inside an arena. Doors open do nothing to relieve the humidity.

At the ceiling, the steel girders supporting the roof of the Aurora Community Centre are showing signs of rust. Staff have recommended painting . They agree painting could be put off for a year. But surface rust becomes penetrating rust and then girders have to be replaced.

Arena roof collapses are not unusual in Ontario. The problem is common enough for there to be a government inspection program.

In the budget, thirty thousand dollars has been recommended to paint the girders holding up the roof of the Community Centre. At this point, it has been deleted.

Also in the budget, we have one hundred and eight thousand dollars to restore a rotting, mouldering. crumbling old shack of no historical significance, with a caved- in roof, which has been sitting at the side of a road for five years because nobody has a use for it.

But we cannot afford thirty thousand dollars to keep the steel girders supporting the roof of the Community Centre in good repair.