The Athletic Complex (AC) gymnasium on Wilfrid Laurier University’s Waterloo campus will be closed for approximately four weeks until further notice.
The closure stems from a water leak that came from the roof of the gymnasium.
The roof, which has been under construction since November for repairs and the installation of solar panels, began leaking water last Wednesday.
“What ended up happening was the amount of snow and the weather change basically led to water pooling up there and leaking into the building,” Jamie Howieson, communications director for Laurier Athletics and Recreation, said.
The water leak has caused significant damage to the floor of the gymnasium.
Crews assembled at the gymnasium throughout the past weekend to assess the damage. Repairs of both the roof and floor has begun.
Peter Baxter, director of Laurier Athletics and Recreation, said the process of repairs will take a minimum of four weeks in order to full dry the hardwood floor and make the necessary repairs and replacements to some sections of the floor.
Baxter said some damaged sections will also need a repaint and then curing time for the floor sealant to harden.
“We are finalizing the logistics and timing with the University of Waterloo … [to] ensure we can have our Men’s and Women’s Basketball home games at the UW PAC this coming Friday and Saturday,” Baxter said in an email on Monday.
The solar installation project is scheduled to be completed by Spring. McCallum is confident that students will not experience the affects of the installations aside from the parking lot closure.
“Laurier Recreation staff is working to accommodate intramurals, club and Kin activity classes on the one East court which is operational. Varsity men and woman’s basketball can practice also on the East court.”
Various other construction projects will also be taking place on Laurier’s Waterloo campus over the winter term.
Rob McCallum, project manager: ESCO, informed all students on Monday Jan. 15 that Parking Lot 20 Pay and Display Lot, which is located between Clara Conrad Residence and John Aird Building will be closed for one week.
After a full week of closure, approximately one-third of the lot will be open again to the public.
“I think there will definitely be an impact to students. There are alternative lot locations so I think more or less it’ll be an inconvenience,” McCallum said.
In addition to Lot 20, there are three other park and display lots available to students and the public.
The parking lot will be closed in order for energy storage batteries and solar panels to be installed.
“We’ll be able to capture that energy and we’ll be able to store and discharge energy based on opportune times to do so,” McCallum said.
“For example, energy is very expensive during the day or peak periods so we could discharge from the battery at that point and we can recharge the battery when the sun is shining or when the cost of energy makes the most sense to do so.”
The solar installations will be situated on Clara Conrad, the Peter’s Building, Library, Science Building, Athletic Complex as well as Grand River Hall in Brantford.
The solar installation project is scheduled to be completed by Spring. McCallum is confident that students will not experience the affects of the installations aside from the parking lot closure.
Some information in this story was first published by The Cord online on Friday Jan. 12, 2018.
