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Future cloudy for "ugloo" after unexpected shower

Sprinkler system disaster latest in long series of mishaps

JANE GEORGE

Iqaluit's "blue dome" is a community landmark. The interior was trashed by vandals in December 2002. (FILE PHOTOS)

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The future of a downtown Iqaluit landmark with a mixed reputation - the building dubbed the "Blue Dome" - is uncertain after it received an unexpected soaking this week.

Sometime Tuesday night, the dome's sprinkler system went haywire, but instead of triggering an alarm, water ran for hours, damaging the building's interior and equipment, and creating a chilly river that flowed across Iqaluit's Ring Road to the Northmart parking area.

"The shell is good," said John MacDougall director of social policy for the Qikiqtani Inuit Association, which owns the building.

But QIA's board may be reluctant to invest in renovating the igloo-shaped building that, as MacDougall said, has "become quite a character in its own right."

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If it's demolished, Baffin Inuit will bid farewell to the $1.4 million they spent to build the dome in 1993.

Know to local wags as "the ugloo," the blue structure opened amid much fanfare and controversy.

Constructed by Baffin Building Systems using an experimental design purchased from a Florida company, QIA's blue dome has caused numerous headaches.

The building has cracked, leaked, sagged and reacted badly to extreme changes in temperature.

The dome served as the offices for the Baffin Regional Inuit Association, the forerunner to the QIA. It also housed the Nunavut Implementation Commission headquarters and, after April 1, 1999, it provided temporary digs to Nunavut's executive and intergovernmental affairs department.

However, since then, the blue dome has fallen on harder times. For several months, it was used as a residence by John Amagoalik and his family, and as a youth centre that had to close its doors in December 2002 after vandals entered and trashed the interior.

Recently, Iqaluit's Niqinik Nuatsivik Nunavut food bank and the community soup kitchen occupied space at the dome.

The two groups, which help Iqaluit's homeless and less fortunate, are now looking for new homes.

The food bank desperately needs a new space that can accommodate three or four volunteers and about 50 to 60 bags of food, said food bank volunteer Jen Hayward.

The food bank hopes to open in a new location on Jan. 17.

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