Funeral lunch ends with bang

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This article was published 05/04/2023 (1083 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mourners who gathered at a community centre in Swan Lake were forced to run for cover when the roof began to collapse.

More than 150 people were in the 60-year-old hall for a post-funeral lunch on March 25 when they heard a noise coming from above.

“With this fellow, we can honestly say he went out with a bang,” said Ed Goderis, one of the attendees.

“It sounded like rolling thunder from a distance, but then nothing happened. There was no sign on the inside at the time.”

That’s when the eastern end of the roof dropped about four inches.

“Lunch was set up at the west end so they continued to have it, but when the fire department came, they decided to get everyone out.”

No one was injured.

Goderis said when they looked underneath the roof, they discovered several trusses had snapped.

Dan Hacault, the local councillor for the Rural Municipality of Lorne, said this early damage made the roof vulnerable to last weekend’s snowfall.

“Four to five inches of wet snow came and the whole roof collapsed,” he said. “Only the walls are still standing.”

A structural engineer and the insurance company have determined the community centre must be demolished, said Hacault, who added the building was insured.

“It will be rebuilt. Halls back then were used largely for one function. I think if we can replace it, it would be nice to have it for multi-use. Higher walls would allow us to use it for pickleball and we can have exercise and a track there,” he said.

“Hopefully, we can design a product that can serve the community for years to come.”

Swan Lake is about 150 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg.

— Kevin Rollason