The Civic Centre has been closed due to an unsafe amount of snow on its roof.
Tenants of the 88-year-old facility were told Wednesday that the winter storm had left too much snow on the roof for the Civic to be occupied.
A structural weakness in the roof was discovered last fall, and the City of Nelson told tenants they may need to evacuate this winter if snow loads were too heavy.
The Civic Theatre, one of the tenants, said in a Facebook post it was cancelling a movie screening and would provide an update Thursday on future showings.
Other tenants include Glacier Gymnastics, Dance Umbrella, Tumbleweeds Gym, Civic Theatre, Seniors Coordinating Society, and Restorative Justice. The closure does not impact the arena.
The city’s plan calls for evacuation in the event of eight or more inches of snow accumulating on the roof, six inches or more snow over existing ice, weather forecasts of continuous or heavy snow, rain on top of existing snow and any changes in the condition of the roof or trusses.
The West Kootenay is expected to receive 15-to-30 centimetres of snow through Wednesday evening, according to Environment Canada, but snow and flurries are forecast through the weekend.
The Civic Centre was built before the introduction of Canada’s building code in 1941. The need to bring the roof up to current minimum standards for snow load has delayed plans for an extensive renovation to the building that would include an energy retrofit, the addition of an accessible concourse and the expansion of the theatre from one screen to three.
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