The Kinsmen Sportcourt has closed twice in two weeks to repair damage from sprinkler breaks — Derek Blais, director of parks and recreation for the city of Moose Jaw, laid out a few options for city council on April 22 to potentially address the issue. 

The Sportcourt was being used by lacrosse players when a stray ball struck a sprinkler head. When one sprinkler goes, they all do, meaning the building has to be closed, the water cleaned up, and any water damage (particularly to the floors) must be repaired. 

Councilor Doug Blanc raised the topic of the breaks and wanted to know if there were any plans to prevent another one. 

“I guess I should start by (saying) this is an extremely rare occurrence,” Blais answered. “We’ve been offering lacrosse in that facility for 15-plus years, and it’s happened twice. And, it’s happened twice in two weeks. 

“After it happened the first time, through our investigation it was determined that it was a very low probability of happening again, and we allowed activities to resume... The approximate cost of the clean-up and repairs are in that $3,000 to $5,000 range each time this happens.” 

Blais said his department has been looking at options — one possibility is to install metal cages on each of the 140 sprinkler heads in the Sportcourt. That option would cost somewhere from $40,000 to $50,000. 

Some facilities use netting to protect against stray balls, but Blais said that could not be done in the Sportcourt because of the low ceilings. 

The sprinkler head cages are the most likely possible solution, but Blais said he and his department are not yet committed to that option. 

“We also want to have some further discussions with the user groups, primarily lacrosse, where these incidents have occurred, to see what’s led to that and if there’s anything they can change in how they use the facility to reduce the risk.” 

The next regular meeting of city council is May 13.