Fort Resolution (Sep 04/06) - Although the winter is not far away, repairs to the leaky roof of Fort Resolution's Lakeview Arena have not yet started.

However, Tausia Lal, the senior administrative officer with Deninoo Community Council, is hopeful the work will be done in time by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA).

"I think it will be open for this winter," Lal said.

MACA owns the building, but it is operated by the Deninoo Community Council.

Sheila Bassi-Kellett, MACA's assistant deputy minister, said the Department of Public Works is looking at what needs to be done to fix the roof.

"An assessment is being finalized right now," she said, adding a report from an architect is expected this month.

Public Works will then make a recommendation to MACA.

Bassi-Kellett could not say when the work might be done or how much it would cost, noting that depends on the assessment.

"We don't have any money currently in our budget to conduct the repairs," she noted.

However, she said, if the assessment reveals the repairs are urgently needed or could be done for a minor amount of money, MACA will look for immediate funding.

If the work can wait, MACA may not do the repairs until April, when it is planning to institute a new formula funding arrangement for communities.

The Fort Resolution council earlier estimated the cost at possibly more than $400,000.

Bassi-Kellett said MACA recognizes the importance of the arena to Fort Resolution and is also concerned about safety.

Lal said the arena is vital for the community.

"That's our main recreation building."

The community council closed the arena on March 20 because of concerns about fire safety and the leaking roof.

Lal said, since March, the fire safety issues have been addressed and the arena has been used for some events over the summer.

The minor problems included burnt-out exit lights, no record of the alarm system being verified, missing monthly inspection stickers on fire extinguishers, and insufficient fire separation walls in storage rooms.

The community has also discussed, but not yet finalized, plans to spend about $270,000 of its $791,000 share from the GNWT's Community Capacity Building Fund on the arena.

"There's a good possibility we would use some of the money for the interior," Lal said. "Public Works is only going to handle the roof."

The arena, which uses natural ice, is normally ready for skating and hockey by early December.