A leaky roof that nearly soaked an Asparagus Theatre production at Centennial Hall in Armstrong will be fixed permanently.
The community theatre group wrote a letter to Armstrong council April 15 explaining that during its production of the musical Chickens in March, a ceiling water leak “was not only unseemly but dangerous for patrons in the building.”
“The floor was wet and slippery, the paint along the walls peeled and it appeared there my have been some permanent damage to the hall floor,” states the group.
“Other than just being unsightly and smelling like mould, the general happy ambience during the production was somewhat dampened by the water damage caused by the melting snow.”
Armstrong council deferred the matter to the parks and recreation commission, which is responsible for the hall.
“We didn’t patch it right away because we knew we’d have some decisions at the budget level,” said commission chairman Dave Brew, a councillor in Spallumcheen.
“We put a Band-Aid on it and we’re going to fix it. It’s fixed now but not permanently.”
The theatre group was concerned that deterioration at the hall could continue to the point where the hall and theatre are no longer functional.
Brew said the hall roof would be fixed permanently, now that Spallumcheen and Armstrong have committed $965,000 for the 2011 parks and recreation budget.
“We’ve been in economy mode since February,” said Brew. “We got quite an increase in our budget this year over last year and we’re very comfortable with where we are.”
Brew said the first three months of 2011 are right on projection in the budget in terms of labour cost and extra sales.
“The numbers we put in are panning out and we’re basically right on the money,” he said. “It’s working out well. We’re very pleased with it.”
