Put aside those sinking feelings and prepare to get pumped up about the re-inflation of the Bradford Sports Dome.
Owners Bradford Sports Dome Inc. (BSDI) say they are hopeful to have the dome up again this afternoon after spending the weekend performing repairs following the dome’s deflation on Friday afternoon, which came after strong winds caused tears in the dome fabric and pulled it loose from the club house, according to operations manager Ryan Wood.
“Once it loses its connection to where the clubhouse is, you’re in a tough spot, so we had to put the dome down and repair the tears,” he said. “Once the dome is up, then we can further evaluate if there’s any other damage that occurred during this deflation.”
Because of the high winds, the dome was closed to the public Friday afternoon, meaning no one was inside during the incident.
“We monitor the wind everyday,” Wood said. “We have to determine if it’s the right decision to have people actually utilize the dome during the time that they’re scheduled.”
While the property at 2971 Sideroad 10 is owned by the town, the dome has been operated by BDSI under agreement with the town since November 2010, and in that time, Wood counted only four deflation incidents.
“Unfortunately, being in Canada our weather that we have is sometimes erratic,” Wood said. “Sometimes it gets over stressed. It doesn’t happen very often. It’s a rare occurrence for sure.”
In December, council approved renewing the operational agreement with BDSI for an additional 15 years, with the new agreement set to begin on Oct. 1, 2025, by which time BDSI is required to have completed certain upgrades including renewing or replacing the dome fabric, turf and HVAC system.
Wood explained a new HVAC system was already installed last summer, BDSI are planning to evaluate the turf this April or May and a new dome is already on order and expected to be installed by fall of 2025.
“It does take a significant amount of time to build the new domes at the manufacturing plant. It’s not like a McDonald’s order,” he said, explaining that the dome is custom designed. “There’s a lot of planning that goes into the dome itself.”
In the meantime, Wood is looking forward to getting the “very busy” dome back up and running for all of the users, including Union FC and the Bradford Wolves Soccer Club among others.
“We’re happy with the partners we have, and we look forward to continuing to grow with the current user-group base that we have when the new dome becomes available.” he said. “We’re excited to provide a great facility for their members.”
