Story And Photo From Pinal Central.com.
Cotton Bowl roof collapses; tragedy avoided at CG's only bowling alley
Cotton Bowl staff alerted the Casa Grande Fire Department on Saturday morning that something was amiss with the structure and firefighters inspected the property before city staff condemned it.
Before Monday evening’s collapse, firefighters and staff were able to salvage some of the inventory and personal belongings. No one was injured or inside the building during the collapse and there were no fires or gas leaks as all of the utilities were turned off on Saturday, according to CGFD. There were no reports of adjoining properties damaged by the collapse.
As of Tuesday, the building was surrounded by barrier tape with the front and side entrances fenced off with "closed" signs. Pools of water could be seen to the rear of the property.
Fire Chief Dave Kean told PinalCentral that the building came down at approximately 7:15 p.m on Monday and that a serious tragedy had been avoided thanks to the heads-up from Cotton Bowl staff and quick reaction from his fire crews. Kean said he was personally on-site to assess the situation.
“We received a call on Saturday morning to come out and take a look at some concerns that somebody had. Our officers went out and looked at it and then they actually called me out to look at it,” Kean said. “After I looked at it we went ahead and got a city building official out there because we wanted to condemn the building.”
Kean said the curved roof structure was a “bowstring truss roof,” which has been described as a “fireman killer” and that it is rarely used in modern architectural practices.
“When one portion of the roof fails it tends to make the entire roof fail and that's exactly what ended up happening here, that was my fear," Kean said. "After we got everybody out we helped them get some belongings out of the safe areas of the building within 24 hours. By 48 hours, it ended up failing entirely.”
An emotional Robin Keeling told PinalCentral she and her family, who have operated the business, were shocked by the roof collapse.
“We were very conscientious once the Fire Department showed up on Saturday about not letting anybody in and they were very helpful in safely escorting us as we tried to retrieve some of our goods," she said. "Only firefighters and family members were allowed to go in. Some patrons were curious, but other than that nobody went in.”
Keeling said it is too early to decide what the family will choose to do with the building.
She said the collapse is more sad as the iconic bowling alley, the only one in Casa Grande, provided a much-needed place for local youths to go to as well as providing thriving bowling league competitions.
“It’s just a huge unfortunate event. It’s been a landmark for Casa Grande that we have proudly owned for almost 20 years and have served the community,” she said. “It’s somewhere for the kids to go and learn how to bowl and have leagues and enjoy that bowling alley. There's people that have been bowling there since they were kids that are now my age. It’s very unfortunate, we're all kind of like dumbfounded by the whole situation right now and don't know what to do.”
Kean said his department’s dispatchers compete in a Tuesday bowling league and said the cultural and social impact on Casa Grande would be significant.