THUNDER BAY – The wreckage of The Sports Dome looms in clear sight as the Canadian Lakehead Exhibition grounds are set to host thousands of attendees this week for their annual family fair.
The multipurpose athletic facility, located on the southeast end of the grounds and just steps from many of the midway rides, collapsed after the inflatable covering was punctured when a winter storm with strong winds, snowfall and freezing rain and ice pellets hit Thunder Bay on the night of Nov. 18, 2016.
“Here we are now in August and it’s still a sorry mess,” CLE president Al Law said on Tuesday. “We get dozens of calls from the public asking when we’re going to clean it up. It’s not up to the CLE. It’s our land but it’s their product.”
Prior to its collapse the dome had been home to numerous local soccer organizations and a mixed martial arts gym. In its past, it was home to a trampoline park and the field had been used as a golf driving range and there had been an 18-hole mini-putt course.
Nearly nine months after it came down, the remainder of the inflatable cover lays nearly flat on the ground. The upper level which included a spectator area for the field is still standing and sections of the artificial turf field are exposed.
While the site is surrounded by fencing, Law is worried people could use the fair as an opportunity to access the site and public safety is a paramount concern.
The 127th edition of the fair starts Wednesday afternoon and runs through until Sunday night.
“You have potentially 60,000 to 65,000 people over five days,” Law said.
“Yes, we have police on the grounds. Yes, we have undercover on the grounds. Yes, we have security on the grounds. But you can’t be everywhere. If you go around and take a look, somebody could access that pretty easily.”
The CLE’s lawyers have been in contact with legal counsel representing the dome’s ownership group, Law said, adding the holdup is an ongoing dispute between the ownership and their insurance company.
“There’s been a minor start to clean up over the last couple of weeks but now with the fair we don’t allow anyone on the grounds to access the site,” Law said, adding that would likely be in place until the middle of next week.
Law said as far as the CLE board of directors is concerned, they want what’s left of the dome removed from their property.
“We’d like to see the whole thing gone. Period. Move on,” Law said.
“Clean it up and move on with their lives and our lives. It’s potential for more parking. Potential for more spots for the midway and vendors. The midway can only do so much and vendors can only do so much. We would love to have a different area for our stage and a bigger area.”
