For the second straight year, the Glens Falls Civic Center is under repair after damage was discovered on a portion of the exterior wall. A similar issue forced the closure of the arena in early 2015.
A crane was parked in front of the Glens Falls Civic Center Wednesday afternoon as crews worked to repair part of the parapet wall on the entrance side of the building.
On Sunday some of the bricks on the wall seemed out of place.
Civic Center General Manager Jeff Mead said a local contractor, Rozell Industries, was brought in to take a closer look.
“And Monday morning Rozell removed all the snow off the affected area and then yesterday and continuing today they’re pulling all the brick off the parapet which was pulling away from the building, so that’s what’s being done currently,” said Mead.
In early 2015 on the other side of the building, snow and ice caused a portion of the parapet wall to collapse. Nothing so dramatic this time around, but the loose brick did cause Tuesday night’s hockey game to be postponed.
The Adirondack Thunder, the East Coast Hockey League team that calls the Civic Center home, plans to reschedule the game.
Zach Dooley is a spokesman for the team.
“We’ll definitely have this game rescheduled. Next game home, anyways, is December 31st. A New Year’s Eve game against Reading, which is a big night for us, New Year’s Eve,” said Dooley.
A date for the make-up game is not yet determined.
The construction equipment outside did not affect a Christmas party being held inside Heritage Hall inside the Civic Center Wednesday afternoon, but for anyone looking to buy hockey tickets, you’ll have to use the side entrance.
The Civic Center, which seats about 4,800, will host a high school basketball tournament on December 29th and 30th. Jeff Mead hopes to see the work completed beforehand.
“Our expectations are to be open, but we won’t open until our engineer tells us it’s safe to go,” said Mead.
While the setback is unfortunate, it won’t delay other upgrades to the aging area.
A locker room renovation is scheduled to start in two weeks. Just recently, a new video board was installed over the home ice. New interior lights and a marquee out front also have been installed since the events center came under new management about two years ago.
