The Kimberley Elks Hall is closed until further notice for safety reasons as the roof over the hall has been condemned.
Club member Ron Christensen says the hall portion of the building has been deemed unsafe.
The Elks building on Howard Street consists of a social hall, a lounge upstairs and a bowling alley under the lounge.
The plan is to hopefully be able to re-open the lounge and bowling alley at the end of next week. The social hall has a separate roof from the other part of the building and it is that which is failing.
“We’re going to take about 10 days to shore up the hall and then hopefully reopen the lounge,” Christensen said. “But we need a whole new roof for the hall.”
The building is 69 years old, and while the surface of the roof was replaced five years ago, it has now been discovered that the problem is with the trusses.
“We found that there are only three huge trusses for the whole building and the middle one has failed,” Christensen said.
It is unlikely hall repairs will be completed until at least the end of May and all events booked for the hall have been cancelled.
The hall is used by a number of community groups, such as the Food Bank bingo, community band practices and more.
“You don’t realize how many people use it until you have to phone them and ask them to get their stuff out,” Christensen said.
“It is a pretty busy hall,” said Elks member Jori Adank. “It’s a good size for community use and we are able to rent it for reasonable fees. It’s the lounge that allows us to rent at such reasonable rates. The lounge supports the operation of the building.”