Worker tends to the ceiling of the arena in Mackenzie – photo courtesy District of Mackenzie

Mackenzie, B.C. – “A disaster.”

That’s how Mackenzie Mayor Pat Crook describes the forced closure of the district’s arena due to problems following a major renovation last summer which included the painting of its ceiling.

“Something happened when it turned cold and they started to use the arena and the paint started falling off the ceiling.”

He says initially they closed the arena and tried to blow the paint off but says the paint continued to fall and they had to close again.

Crook says efforts to correct the problem are continuing.

“As of today they’ve brought in two pieces of equipment from Edmonton that are like sandblasters but they use dry ice instead of sand and they’ll be blasting the rest of the paint off in it’s entirety.”

If successful, he hopes the arena will open next week but notes a lot of damage has already been done.

“The hockey league, figure skaters, and speed skaters basically haven’t had any ice time all year so it’s been a complete disaster actually.”

And then there’s the effect it’s had on tourism due to tournament cancellations.

“Oh yeah. I’m sure the hotels and the restaurants are feeling it as well.”

He says contractors are responsible for what’s happened but isn’t sure how they might be held responsible.

“Honestly I don’t know. They’re still investigating why the paint fell of the ceiling. So we really don’t know what we can do until we find out what caused it.

In the meantime he says the closure has hit local residents hard.

“The arena is basically the heart of the community and it’s been closed.”