It is the municipality of Ovanåker and Edsbyn Arena AB that have ended up in an infected battle regarding the condition of the hall. Arenabolaget has reported the municipality for abuse of authority.
– We think it has been a very strange frenzy where you try to find fault. We do not yet know the reasons for the decision in full, but it seems to be linked to building adjustments that have been made after the arena was built, says Per-Olof Uppegård, CEO of Edsbyn Arena, to Ljusnan.
Looking for ice ages
Meanwhile, 13-time Swedish champion Edsbyn is looking for ice time for the senior team. Today the team trains in Söderhamn and the rest of the week it is Bollnäs that applies.
Have you noticed anything in the arena?
– As far as I know, nothing has happened recently. They have lifted up the Tarfalahallen (Kiruna) which I don’t think is comparable. It was a flat arena with a lot of snow on it, which is significantly different from this arena, says club manager Franco Bergman.
“Should have collapsed several years ago”
The decision to close the hall was made after an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday morning.
– There have been changes in the construction of the arena and we see that, among other things, braces are missing, says Per Helgesson (S), chairman of the environmental and building committee in Ovanåker municipality to Radio P4 Gävleborg.
The braces are supposed to be the most important reason why the hall was closed.
– They say that the load, if the braces are in place as they should be, is 97 percent. If you remove the braces, the load is increased to 360 percent instead. So theoretically the hall should have collapsed several years ago. According to them, it is pure luck that the building was not affected by extreme snow or wind loads, says Fredrik Andersson, building inspector at Ovanåker municipality to Ljusnan.se.