Officials Inspecting Consol Energy Center Roof Leaks
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Concert-goers sitting high up in Section 107 at Tuesday's Rod Stewart-Carlos Santana concert at Consol Energy Center had a bit of a surprise.
"There was some people that got dripped on, and some water fell on," says Consol's general manager, Tim Hassett.
Hassett says during the big rainstorm that evening, the Consol Energy Center sprung a leak.
"Nobody was in danger," Hassett said. "Nothing fell from the ceiling. It was just an infiltration of water."
It was more annoying than dangerous, says Hassett.
"It came down in the back rows of one of the sections. We had to relocate a few people. As you know, the storm was pretty intense. The rain was sort of blowing sideways."
Hassett says the Consol has inspectors checking out the roof above the leak and the interior, but he acknowledged leaks have happened before, although not as severe.
"I have heard that there was a leak in one or two spots, a small drip type leak. Nothing to the extent this one was," he said.
But any leak is surprising.
The Consol Energy Center was built just four years ago at a cost of about $320 million, so the question is, why is this happening right now?
"It shouldn't be expected in a 4-year-old building," says Hassett, "but part of the design of new buildings and the construction of new buildings is that there are some things that happen and get realized once they get into operation."
"Mother Nature is a powerful force, and water is one of those forces," he adds.
Hassett says once they know the cause of the problem, it will be fixed.
In the meantime, he says the building is safe.
"The building is a safe, tight building. It's a wonderful building for people to come and enjoy events in," Hassett said. "We've put on a lot of events over the last four years with no problems, and this is an isolated case of water finding its way in during a very intense storm."
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