Louis-Riel Dome collapse creates ‘a mad rush to find something else’

By Dan Plouffe

Alongside blocked streets and buried election signs, Ottawa was dealt a reminder of the importance of one of its signature sports facilities amid last weekend’s major snowstorm and high winds when the Louis-Riel Dome collapsed.

“It’s been a mess of a week,” says Richard Johnston, head coach of the Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club, which has lost use of its wintertime home. “We have a large membership that are now kind of waiting on pins and needles, wondering what’s next.”

With the city’s lone indoor track, a turf field the size of a regulation soccer pitch, a gym surface for volleyball, basketball and more, plus a physical conditioning area, the air-supported Louis-Riel Dome in Gloucester serves as a winter venue for just about every summertime sport.

Owned by the CÉPEO French public school board, the facility is used by Louis-Riel high school during weekdays, while community groups pack it in the evenings and on weekends.

“We’re all kind of in a mad rush to find something else,” Johnston indicates. “The timing is brutal because most of these indoor domes and turf fields are booked up in early fall.”

For Johnston, the uncertainty of the past week and the need to adjust on the fly have provided a flashback to the pandemic when the Louis-Riel Dome was closed to the public. So far, the Lions have managed to secure some timeslots to run modified programming at the Aberdeen Pavilion.

“It’s not an athletics venue, but at least it is a large open space that provides shelter,” Johnston signals.

Distance runners can do a warm-up inside the Pavilion and then run outdoors, and younger athletes can work on some skills, but the club is careful not to do much training volume on the high-impact concrete floor, notes Johnston, who’s pitched the idea to the City of Ottawa of laying down some athletic flooring in the Lansdowne Park facility.

“I think it would, on the city’s end, generate tons of revenue and interest,” he adds.

A few of the Lions’ top athletes are also utilizing the small personal training space beside the club’s office at Terry Fox Athletic Facility, and the Carleton University Fieldhouse and the Russell Sports Dome offer short rubberized surfaces to run on.

“I’m plugging away” in search of other options, Johnston says. “We found a way in COVID and we’ll find a way here.”

Meanwhile, Louis-Riel high school students have been hiking down Bearbrook Road to the Gloucester Superdome for some of their sports training. Having already exceeded the capacity of its own Dome, Louis-Riel’s popular sports-études program already rented the private facility during parts of the school day to accommodate overflow.

No further updates have been provided after a notice was posted to the school’s website on Feb. 18 stating: “We regret to inform you that the Dome Louis-Riel is temporarily closed until further notice due to some damage to the fabric.”

“At this time, it is too early to determine the duration of this closure,” the notice added. “Our teams are currently assessing the extent of the repairs required. We will provide an update as soon as we have more information to share.”

The Dome, first opened in 2005, had plans to change the shell of the Dome this summer, which would add more light inside the facility.

“I have not heard any updates at all – not really the cause, or if there’s a timeline,” Johnston says. “At this time, we’re planning long-term, until the snow thaws and we get back out on Terry Fox.”

Currently lying under the deflated dome is the Lions’ pole vault equipment and discus cage, which the club also uses outdoors at Terry Fox Athletic Facility – the host of the 2025 Canadian Track and Field Championships from July 31-Aug. 3.

The last event held at the Dome before its collapse after the storm hit overnight on Feb. 15 was the Carleton Ravens U Sports Last Chance meet.

The Dome had been closed the previous Thursday like many of the city’s sports centres following a first major storm. It stayed closed Friday, which forced the events planned for that evening to be added to Saturday’s meet schedule.

“Everybody was very, very appreciative that we were able to get it going and squeezed in that little slot,” Johnston highlights. “It was very, very successful.”

Over 750 athletes entered the meet, including Canadian 2024 Olympians Audrey Leduc, Eliezer Adjibi and the Lions’ Lauren Gale, who equalled her own Canadian record in the women’s 300 metres of 36.48 seconds – the world’s fourth-fastest time clocked so far this year.

It’s called the “last-chance” meet since it offered a final opportunity for university athletes to post a qualifying time in advance of the Feb. 21-22 Ontario and Mar. 6-8 Canadian university championships, which will both be held in Windsor.

The University of Ottawa Gee-Gees women rose back into the national top-10 rankings with their performances at the meet, and there were several Ravens school records set.

For athletes in indoor competition mode, Johnston was at least glad that the Dome collapse occurred after the meet and with the biggest parts of their training complete.

“The old saying is, ‘the hay’s in the barn,'” he smiles. “If this hit, say late January, then that would have thrown a huge wrench into everybody’s programming.”

Another sparkling performance came from Grade 12 West Carleton Secondary School student Will Batley. The CANI Athletics sprinter established a new Dome record in the open men’s 300 m of 32.91 seconds, which was .79 quicker than any time posted by Canadian university athletes this season.

Lisgar’s Stephan Balson (33.47), Paul-Desmarais’s Ange-Mathis Kramo and Louis-Riel’s Zachary Jeggo (34.26) gave Ottawa four high school students times that would make them competitive among the best in U Sports 300 m.

Johnston notes that Louis-Riel Dome plays an instrumental part in those type of eye-popping feats, and that the limited alternatives underline the importance of the venue in the city’s sports fabric.

“It’s the only one of its kind in Canada,” he explains. “For training and for meets, it’s critical. And I know how much the school depends on it too.”