Published on Thursday, 9 May 2024 at 9:56:49 AM
A water leak from a burst pipe at the Esperance Indoor Stadium (EIS) was discovered in the early morning hours of Monday 29 April 2024. By the time the leak was discovered, water had already covered Courts 1 and 2 and partially covered Court 3.
Shire staff, with the assistance of contractors, did their best to dry the courts, however by this stage water had seeped into and under the sports flooring. Unfortunately, wooden sports flooring is highly susceptible to water damage.
Staff are currently working with our insurer and the sports floor supplier to best deal with the issue; after reviewing the stadium flooring and how it is behaving, it has been determined that the Esperance Indoor Stadium will need to remain closed for the rest of May 2024 while remedial works are undertaken. The situation will be reassessed in another two weeks, to give stadium users time to make any adjustments to their timetables and fixtures.
Summary of the current situation:
- The wooden floor is still soaking in moisture, with continued expansion of the flooring producing compressive forces that are causing the floor to buckle.
- Current focus is to relieve this force so that it does not cause further damage to the floor or the stadium structure.
- Once stabilised and the floor stops expanding, the Shire hopes to be in a position to open Court 4 and possibly Court 3 for sporting club use. Advice received indicates once the moisture starts to drop in the floor it will settle down/start to contract back, however this is likely to take months.
- The Graham Mackenzie Stadium (GMS) is currently being used heavily to accommodate the current winter competition sports, with building maintenance issues being addressed.
- Temporary safety fencing has been put up to provide safe access for junior netball, using the outdoor netball courts on a Saturday morning. This fencing will block vehicles from around the new outdoor netball court area (with no parking on the gravel area around the outdoor netball courts), as well as the Black Street entrance to the hockey fields and Ports Oval.
- Parking for netball is available in the carpark outside the EIS if entering from Black Street, or between EIS and GMS if entering from Brazier Street. Parking for hockey and football is accessible from Brazier Street, around the playing areas as normal.
The sports floor supplier has indicated there is a long lead time to replace the flooring, being February 2025 at the earliest. Given this, the Shire will investigate temporary solutions to get Courts 1 and 2 back to a useable condition in the meantime.
We would like to sincerely thank the stadium users for their flexibility, understanding and work with Shire staff to accommodate this significant disruption to their season.
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