Flooded fieldhouse floor brings indoor sports to a halt in Niverville

Two years after the official grand opening of the new Niverville Community Resource and Recreation Centre, most of the flooring in their Fieldhouse is being redone due to water damage.  

Chantal Todd, part of the Niverville Rec Programming team says, “We knew it was coming. We just didn't think it would be this bad.” 

Todd explains why they needed to pull up the floorboards of the CRRC Fieldhouse.  

“Back at the end of May (of this year), we had a Futsal tournament here, and unfortunately a soccer ball or a football ball hit a sprinkler-head and broke it, which caused our beautiful hardwood floor to have water damage. So, for about 6 weeks we tried to dry it, putting fans under the floor to collect the moisture, dehumidifiers, the whole nines. Unfortunately, that didn't do enough because our floor is just so big, there was still moisture under the floor and in the subfloor.” 

Todd says most of the damage is in Fieldhouse court one and spread into court two. She says they are hoping they can save court 3.

Newly laid floor of the Niverville CRRC Fieldhouse in July 2021 (left) and the concrete floor with dryers and humidifiers, August 2023

When it comes to the expense of the repairs, Todd says,  

“I don't know the price tag. Insurance is covering everything related to this incident. I believe our floor, when it was first installed, was about $800,000 for the hardwood floor. I’m sure it’s a lot more now, as that was two years ago.”  

She says the product they’ve pulled out is not reusable.  

“Unfortunately. So, we're hoping they can save court three and then we'll just have new wood. Then once they have everything installed, they’ll have to sand off the current lines on court three, if that court is saved and then repaint everything and stain and put on the topcoat after.” 

Todd says the contractors did everything they could to save the floor, but after ripping out all the baseboards, putting heavy duty fans and dehumidifiers in, “they were trying to do the first process that usually works on gym floors, to suck all the moisture and pushing all that air out. Just didn't happen.” 

When none of that worked, Todd says the restoration company came in to assess the floors and noticed that the hardwood was still cupping in places.  

“So, then we cut out a section, had it tested, and it was discovered that the subfloor and the vapor barrier and the concrete, and that it was still showing a lot of moisture, so that our first step was not successful. So now we're on to the “let's rip it out, dry it out, redo it” stage.”  

Todd says it’s hard to watch the process.  

“It's been sad. I walked by and I just want to have some tears. It’s such a beautiful floor.” 

“So yeah, they tried their best to do the first step that usually works. Well, in most cases, but our gym floor is just so big that it unfortunately is the drying process that wasn't as successful as they anticipated.” 

Todd says the entire process will take about three months.  

“They're pushing hard to get it done by end of October. It could be sooner, which would be nice, but they told us till end of October to anticipate. So, now we just wait.” 

She notes for most of the summer they’ve still been able to use court three for their day camps, but now, “we've just completely closed down the field house just for safety concerns. There's lots of saws, nails and wood and all that stuff lying around.” 

Todd says they’ve had to make a lot of adjustments when it comes to recreational programming.  

“Thankfully, we have a multiplex. So, we have multiple spaces that we can move our camps into, and outside has been lovely. So, we've been doing lots of stuff in the park as well, which has been nice along with our outings. And then with our other renters, some of their programs are actually able to move into the multi-purpose rooms. But our court sports, we unfortunately had to cancel and postpone events until the end of October, November when we should be ready to open up again.” 

The Niverville CRRC has a walking path above the fieldhouse floor which Todd says will remain open while crews work on the floor. And ironically, she notes last Monday, the day the contractors came in to tear out the hardwood, they opened their arena to hockey camps and public skating. As well, “our playground is also open and we’re still having birthday parties and a lot of our fall classes in the multi-purpose rooms are going to be starting up very soon in September.”

Niverville CRRC fieldhouse from the upper area running track, which remains open. 

Message from Niverville CRRC Recreation Department:  

As of Monday August 14, our Fieldhouse has been decommissioned for use through to the end of October. Earlier this year one of our sprinkler heads were damaged during a Futsal Tournament, which caused significant water damage in Courts 1 & 2. We were hopeful for a favorable outcome and over the last few months we have made a concentrated attempt to recover the floor surface with Flood Specialists, but unfortunately the water damage has now affected the entirety of the Fieldhouse flooring- including the subfloor. 
 
Currently our Fieldhouse is under major reconstruction to dry the subfloor and replace the entire floor surface. Due to the extensive repairs our Fieldhouse will be unavailable for any recreation and sport use until later this fall. 
 
We apologize for the inconvenience this causes to our members, sports organizations, players and guests. We look forward to resuming our recreation programming and regular scheduling once renovations and repairs have been completed!  

 

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