Sports dome in storage mysteriously goes up in flames at Toronto track facility

A sports dome in storage went up in flames on Monday at Central Technical School in Toronto.

According to Toronto Police, “a large tarp was engulfed in flames” and police and fire personnel responded at 2:37 p.m. EDT. The sports dome covers the artificial multi-use field within the 400m rubberized track in Toronto’s west end. It was installed approximately six months ago and is used in the fall, winter and spring.

Video

According to CityNews Toronto, damages are estimated to be $1 million. Police say the possibility of arson is being investigated.

Update: Sports dome is not connected to main building, NB and SB Bathurst St is temporarily closed. ^adc

— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) May 15, 2017

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTY2vlLg0Wp/

The dome, which was taken down for the season at the end of April, is stored on the northwest side of the track facility. The sports dome has been a topic of debate among locals in recent years. It’s not connected to the high school which the track sits in front of and according to the Toronto Police, there were no injuries reported.

Central Tech Stadium, as it’s currently known, and its then-future was debated in the recent past because some people believed that facility renovation would increase traffic and present parking problems. The original track at Central Technical School was closed in November 2013 because tests revealed that the soil contained contaminants.

Construction of the facility was halted in 2016 when Razor Management, the company who took on the project, was faced with a retroactive tax bill from another facility, Monarch Park Collegiate. The project at Central Tech was completed by the fall of 2016.

The track facility is open to the general public, free of charge, during the outdoor season though school hours affect its hours of operation.