Snow causes collapse of fabric roof at Brown tennis center
By Matt Blanchette
mblanchette@abc6.com
@mattblanchette
The fabric roof at Brown University’s indoor tennis center has collapsed under the weight of snow.
The university says no one was hurt when the roof at the Pizzitola Memorial Sports Center caved in shortly after midnight Wednesday.
A section of the roof gave way and sent snow falling to a court below.
Crews worked to fix the roof Thursday and tell ABC 6 they’ve already removed 200,000 pounds of snow from the roof. Along with the crane, 25 people were on top shoveling.
It’s the second time the fabric roof has given way under the weight of snow in recent years. In 2011, the 25-year-old fabric roof collapsed. It has since been replaced.
In a release the university says maintenance workers routinely check the roof to make sure it was not a dangerous situation.
No one was injured by the collapse… and the school says the hole is contained… and they are still working to determine a fix… and how long that fix will take.
The tennis courts are the only area of the building affected. All other parts of the building remain open, including the basketball arena, which will see the Brown women’s basketball team host undefeated Princeton on Friday night.
(C) WLNE-TV 2015
