Snow Causes Roof Collapse at Duluth Armory
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DULUTH - The warmer weather has caused another roof collapse. This time it's the historic Duluth Armory.
"The wet heavy snow this year and the density of that snow has caused some problems for roofs," explained the city of Duluth’s director of planning, Keith Hamre.
Sunday evening, part of the 99-year-old roof caved in, and as of Monday, building inspectors were not allowing anyone inside.
City officials said the heavy snow is to blame for all the roof collapses we've seen this winter.
First, it was the overhang at the Greysolon Hotel, then the roof compromise at the Miller Hill Mall. This weekend, we saw the ICO awning come down because of the snow. Now, the historic Armory is on the list.
Pictures from inside show a 40-foot hole near the front of the stage, which is toward the back of the building.
Nobody was inside when it happened.
The armory board said roof repairs have been ongoing, but an incident like this was definitely unexpected.
"The snow loading can usually handle about 12 inches to 18 inches,” Hamre explained. “It gets to be this time of year when wet heavy snow and rain on top of it starts to melt and roof drains get frozen. That can cause problems."
The repairs are expected to cost about $75,000, and the money will come from a family foundation grant given to the Armory this month.
The Armory board already has plans to redo some of the brick work on the building once the snow melts, but fixing the hole will be another project added to the list.
Officials are working to clear up debris from the hole as soon as they can, and hope to permanently fix is this summer.