Air quality concerns have led to the temporary closure one of the city’s only indoor soccer venues.
Responding to complaints, officials from the Thunder Bay District Health Unit visited the Lowery’s SportsDome Monday evening and recommended the facility be closed.
Environmental health manager Lee Sieswerda said as many as five public complaints of respiratory illness symptoms prompted the visit. He said a diesel smell, which Sieswerda said he noticed when entering the facility, led him to believe there could be nitrogen dioxide in the air.
With people using the facility for intensive physical activity, he said the Health Unit wanted to be proactive.
“That’s one of the big reasons we’re taking an abundance of caution,” Sieswerda said. “We did observe a large number of children playing soccer and breathing heavily so that increased our level of concern.”
He added that exposure to nitrogen dioxide could lead to throat irritation, difficulty breathing, nausea and irritation to the eyes.
The symptoms mentioned in the complaints are consistent with nitrogen dioxide inhalation.
Officials at the Sports Dome had been doing regular testing for gases, such as carbon monoxide, but Sieswerda did not believe there was any testing for nitrogen dioxide.
Sandi Boucher, a business consultant with the Sports Dome, said the facility will reopen Saturday morning.
She said air quality levels are appropriate for those found at a construction site, but management wanted the facility to become safely ventilated for athletic activities as a precautionary measure.
Construction crews have been working inside the facility removing the mini-putt course as they look to reinvent the site. Debris and pieces from the structure of the course are visible outside the dome.
The facility had previously closed in July for renovations, and re-opened last month with only the field available for use.
Boucher said on Tuesday that an indoor trampoline park and golf simulators will replace the mini-putt course and the multi-purpose court. The new additions are scheduled to open in February.
