Smeaton, a community of about 200 residents in central Saskatchewan, has lost its central hub following a roof collapse at the Smeaton Recreation Centre around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. The 50-year-old building covered about an acre of land and was used for most community events. Ryan Reid grew up in the area and has fond memories of the building. “This is where we, me and my friends, pretty much grew up,” he said. “I mean, we probably spent thousands of hours in the wintertime, skating and running around and playing hockey.” The building housed three sheets of curling ice, a rink and an auditorium for village meetings. The building also was used at one point as the school gymnasium. The roof caved in over the side of the building housing the ice surfaces. Mayor Lyle White told CTV News the rec centre saw a lot of use in the month leading up to the collapse with a bonspiel, a ski doo rally and a skating windup. He added the community is fortunate the collapse happened overnight when no one was inside. The time of the collapse was determined by security camera footage in the area. White said the building is likely 100 per cent destroyed. “Small town Saskatchewan, I speak for all of them I’m sure, we don’t have a lot of extra dollars to throw at this and get this thing fixed in a short time,” White said. What remains of the building is high risk for further structural collapse, so fencing has been placed to keep people away from the area. The mayor said he’s not sure what’s next in terms of a community centre for the area.
