Badminton and ice sports are off the cards in Dunedin after two neighbouring sports facilities had parts of their roofs ripped off during severe weather.
Thursday’s strong winds tore chunks out of the Dunedin Ice Hockey stadium roof in Victoria Rd, which blew over and severely damaged the neighbouring roof of the Badminton Centre.
Both centres are closed.
Otago Badminton Association chairman Dr John Schollum said they were unfortunately ‘‘collateral damage’’.
‘‘I think it'll be a prolonged period of time before we actually know what's happening.’’
They worked to make the scene safe inside and out and the insurance company organised the building to be sealed.
The centre would be closed for the foreseeable future, he said.
‘‘Going forward, obviously a lot of school halls have facilities, UniPol has facilities - but none of them are badminton specific nor protected in terms of being, you know, just for us.’’
Badminton was entering its off-season, so that gave the association ‘‘a grace period’’ to wait until it had a clearer idea of what the next steps were, and whether they would need to find a new home.
Dunedin resident Christine Ebbett was playing a game of pickleball in the centre when when the roof started to rip apart.
"Sheets of iron started peeling off... rubbish, polystyrene and asbestos started floating around the room - I thought the whole thing was going to go"
Ms Ebbett said there were about 20 players in the centre at the time.
As soon as chunks of roof started to rain down on them, they ran into the centre’s office to shelter.
The decision was made to run outside in an alley between the Ice Stadium and Badminton Centre to avoid crossing the indoor floor, which looked to be ladened with asbestos, she said.
Roofing iron blocked their way, but they came out unscathed.
‘‘When we drove home it was quite frightening as well - all the traffic lights were swinging back and forward very fast.’’
Dunedin Ice Stadium general manager Oliver Stephenson said its facility would also remain closed while they waited for further instruction from the council.
He said council staff were on site very quickly yesterday after they were notified of the damage, along with Fenz.
‘‘We are thankful for their assistance - the public is advised to stay away, until the necessary work can be carried out on both facilities,’’ he said.
