The planned winter closure of a city sports facility has sparked frustration among user groups.

The City of Salmon Arm recently announced it would be closing the SASCU Indoor Memorial Sports Complex during snowfall. The decision is based on a preliminary engineering study that raised concerns around the building’s structural integrity – in particular, its capacity to support snowload. The city said out of an abundance of caution, it would be closing the facility during snowfall.

Kintec Salmon Arm owner Graham Archer was quick to respond to the facility’s closure, which he referred to as a “complete failure” on the part of the city.

In a post on the business’ Facebook page, Archer said it should be no surprise the building was nearing or at the end of its life, yet nothing has been done to provide citizens a safe place to participate in field sports during the winter months.

“The local soccer organizations have approached the city multiple times to contribute in the cost of repairing this facility or building a new one, and the City of Salmon Arm has done nothing,” said Archer.

“The Memorial Sports Complex is used daily during the late fall and winter by youth and adult organizations, and now there are no safe indoor facilities for these organizations to play soccer, rugby and other field sports. It will be years before a long-term solution will come into effect.”

One of those organizations is the Yeti Rugby Club, whose Indoor Touch Rugby season began Nov. 6 at the arena and is scheduled to run to the end of April. The club’s Indoor Mini Rugby Program, with 49 kids under age 14 registered, is also underway and was set to run every Saturday until Dec. 23. The club’s junior men’s and women’s rugby teams are relying on the arena to train for a spring tour at Grand Cayman Island.

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“Further to this unexpected indoor field closure announcement, we were notified recently that our club would be unable to use the Field of Dreams for our annual Snow 7s tournament, which is our only fundraising event through the winter season,” stated club president Jent Hoekstra in a letter to Mayor Alan Harrison.

“We use this money to service our summer events and club operating expenses. Simply put, our club will be financially crushed if these closures take place.”

Hoekstra said he and the club understand the concerns upon which the city has based its decision, but he noted the “unduly and hasty” move will be detrimental to numerous sports and activities that rely on the facility.

“Rather than closing the arena immediately upon the arrival of snow, regardless of amount, we respectfully request that the city take the time to review and reconsider this decision,” said Hoekstra.

“We as a club think that it would be reasonable to expect the city to mitigate the snow load hazard by contracting a snow removal subcontractor each time the snow approaches an unsafe level.

“It is unfair to expect each user group to cancel pre-booked events and absorb the associated cost of refunding registered users while still incurring fixed costs.”

Hoekstra asked to meet with city officials to discuss the matter further. The city plans to issue a request for proposals in the coming weeks to begin the next stages of a detailed structural review, stating it is “committed to working together with impacted groups to find the best available alternatives to support their continued operation.”

The Memorial Arena opened in 1958.