Charlie Hemphill, AQHA Senior Director of Shows and New
Events, released a statement Thursday afternoon concerning possible structural issues in the
Jim Norick Arena on the Oklahoma Fair Grounds, home to the AQHA Youth World
Championship show which starts Friday.
Hemphill put end to speculation and announced that there is
not a hole in the Norick Arena roof and there are no danger or safety
concerns. According to Hemphill, a
string broke loose from the coupling and they are looking for the cause. At the present moment, repairs are being made. Youth Performance Halter Mares is still
scheduled to show at 8am in the Norick arena.
The Norick Arena is owned by the City of Oklahoma City and the third largest city-owned multipurpose arena, after
the Ford Center and the arena at the Cox Convention Center.
UPDATE THURSDAY (7/29) EVENING:
The engineering team of Zahl Ford has
reaffirmed this evening, following two days of analysis, that the small piece
of ceiling which fell on
Tuesday does not pose any structural concerns with the State Fair Arena. When the incident occurred, State Fair Park officials immediately contacted both the City of
Oklahoma City
and the engineering team who conducted a structural analysis of the Arena in
2008. While the analysis continues, the engineering team believes it was
an isolated event. “With an abundance of caution, we have restricted
access to the upper level of seats in the Arena, which will not impact the
show,” said Tim O’Toole, President and General Manager, Oklahoma State Fair,
Inc., the operators of State
Fair Park.
“We are appreciative to the firm for promptly responding and allocating a
number of expert resources, so we can continue to make informed
decisions. We are looking forward to a successful show.”
