
Work is now getting started on a temporary fix of the Sagebrush Theatre’s roof.
The building is owned by the City and the School District, and SD73 facilities director Art McDonald says an engineer is coming up with a plan for a damaged roof truss.
“It’s basically one piece of wood. All the other trusses had a visual inspection and none of the other ones have the same issues,” he says.
“What’s happening currently is our structural engineer is designing a temporary support plan, so that we can avoid any further cracking or sagging in the roof. So that’ll be the first phase, once we have that design we will get that going. And then he will go ahead and design a permanent solution.”
McDonald points out the damaged part of the roof is more than 60 years old.
He adds the cost for repair work will likely be covered by insurance.
“The biggest challenge we have in terms of shoring and repairing it is just that it’s a tall structure, and anything below it is tiered seating. So it just makes it awkward in terms of trying to fix it, but all those things will be dealt with.”
The theatre will likely be closed for six to eight weeks before temporary repairs are complete. In the meantime, the production of Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story, put on by the Western Canada Theatre beginning on Thursday, has found a new venue for the show.