Accumulation of heavy, wet snow over the span of a week in Orono, Maine, has caused two athletic domes at the University of Maine to collapse.
The Mahaney Dome, an indoor practice facility at UM in Orono, collapsed at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday. No one was hurt in the incident.
"When it goes down, it is a slow process," Tyler McHatten, the senior associate athletic director, told the NBC affiliate in an email. "The structure is being evaluated in preparation for repairs."
The Mahaney Dome was built in 2006 to be used by student-athletes as a practice facility. The dome has a footprint of 200 feet by 200 feet and stands about 55-feet high.
Maine was already aware that the dome was failing, announcing in 2021 that the structure was "well past its usable life" and noting that it would need to replaced.
The school already has plans for a new structure, which would be sited at the current Mahoney Dome location and increase usable space by about 60 percent.
A second athletic dome in nearby Topsham also collapsed. The Dome at Coastal Maine Storm is an indoor training facility that can be rented for turf sports. Program director Brendon Augustine said the dome collapsed around 4 a.m. Thursday. The structure was damaged with a significant tear down one side.
