One of the key figures in the building of the stadium in Invercargill says there was no fault in its construction.
Ray Harper, former chairman of the Invercargill licensing trust, which spearheaded the building of the stadium, says the incident is an act of God.
"This is freak a circumstance," he says. "Never in my life, in 80 years, have I seen Invercargill with so much snow."
Mr Harper, who's also had 33 years experience as a master builder, says the project used the best engineers and architects, and everybody in Southland was proud of the building.
He says it's a shock, but the venue is insured and will be rebuilt as good as new.
Obviously built soundly enough to stand up to a 'normal' New Zealand weather event.
Invercargill gets a snowfall of this weekend's magnitude every 10 to 15 years, but he would not class it as a freak event.
the city is prone to watery snow because it's close to the coast, unlike inland areas which get lighter snow
Wonder who is ducking for cover?
A building no doubt expertly over-analysed to the nth degree at build and certificated to withstand 100 year plus events by council engineers, with the appropriate extortion paid. But as usual, found to be wanting in the face of normal New Zealand weather.The owners of Stadium Southland insist they had every confidence in the safety of the building before it collapsed under the weight of snow yesterday.
Investigations are now underway after part of the roof caved in while children played tennis inside.
Invercargill mayor Tim Shadbolt claims the buildings owner and local authorities were well aware of the danger.
Nice. I would wager that meetings might not be public. Others also have doubts.
All of a sudden I get a few anonymous emails that cryptically involve:
- $1 million
- Insurance companies
- a large well-known building
- and some names I’m not so stupid as to print without checking.
This story might just have more legs than a centipede…
I wonder if that Kiwi architect involved in the 'soundly built' Polish stadium that collapsed a couple of years ago is out of jail yet?
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That was Bruce Robinson.
He spent over a year in jail (sharing a small cell with 7 others) and was bailed in 2007 whilst the investigation was carried out and he awaits trial.
The investigation was completed in 2008, but I'm not sure what the final outcome was, or if the trial has even started.
He was not the only one charged - the two designers, him and another director of a company that had part ownership and 8 others.
I think there was a lot of controversy over this, especially being jailed without bail - I guess he was a flight risk?
The building codes were amended following this disaster, I wonder what will happen in NZ.
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