Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
The Pat O'Donnell Civic Center as it appeared Tuesday next to the Gogebic Community College campus. The city's insurance company will remove the roof and walls that were damaged by heavy snow in March, to install a temporary dome for the winter season and to determine to rebuild or replace the structure next year.
By TOM LAVENTURE
Ironwood - The Pat O'Donnell Civic Center will have a temporary dome installed for use this winter, according to Scott Erickson, Ironwood city manager.
In his report to the Ironwood City Commission on Monday, Erickson said it is still not known if the civic center will be able to be rebuilt or need to be replaced with a new structure after the roof collapsed from heavy snow in March. But a temporary fix will allow the building to be used for winter activities as engineers determine what can be done with the structure, he said.
"The insurance company has retained the services of a project manager to evaluate next steps," Erickson said. "We are meeting with the project manager this week to get more specific details on the project."
The project manager will handle the logistics and get the contractors together to start on the civic center project, he said. The work will first be to deconstruct parts of the building that were damaged by snow, or will need to be removed for the dome, and other areas that are not meeting current building codes, he said.
"There is not a start date set yet but should be started in a couple of weeks," Erickson said. "Once the roof and walls have been removed the installation of the temporary dome can start."
The dome is a temporary structure, he said. With the dome in place the engineers can evaluate the overall structure and determine if the preferable course of action is to rebuild using salvaged portions of the building or to replace it entirely, he said.
"That is yet to be determined," Erickson said. "The temporary building should be in place for this season and be ready by late October or early November."
The dome would allow the ice rinks to be operated and skaters can use the restrooms, changing rooms and other portions of the facility, he said. Once the season is over the construction on a rebuild or new build should start in the spring of 2020, he said.
