First came an arena roof leak Saturday in Maryland. Then the roof leak before the College Football Playoff championship game Monday night in Houston. Before the first quarter of a boys' basketball game could expire Monday at Marblehead (Mass.) High School, officials decided to postpone the contest due to water dripping onto the court.
As reported by itemlive.com, referees called a stop to the game with 3:08 left in the first quarter as a roof leak could not be contained. Marblehead athletic director Greg Ceglarski was seen placing towels on the court in an attempt to keep the game going, but referees ultimately determined that continuing play would be unsafe.
The game was rescheduled for Tuesday night and moved to Peabody Veterans Memorial High School.
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The replacement of the high school’s roof has been a point of emphasis for the School Committee, according to itemlive.com's Ryan Vermette. "Last year, the committee withdrew its statement of interest from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), which sought out state funding to help replace the roof. The statement was withdrawn because the high school’s roof does not qualify as it is not older than 30 years, despite the urgent need for repairs," Vermette wrote. "Committee chair Sarah Fox said that the type of roofing on the high school has been known to fail earlier, which she explained at a June 2022 Select Board meeting."
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“Although we have data that shows these types of roofs have been since found to fail much sooner, the MSBA’s scoring process hasn’t caught up to that,” Fox said.
Plans are in the works to fix multiple roofs at the same time, requiring a project manager.
“We’ve been working with the Town since the spring to try and go out jointly for a bid for a project manager,” assistant superintendent of finance and operations Michelle Cresta said. “Because our high-school roof is such a big project, we need to get a project manager and not just contract the project itself.”
