Officials in Millarville have closed the riding arena after the roof collapsed on Monday afternoon and say the impact to the community is significant.

The Millarville Racing and Agricultural Society, posted a release on the Farmers’ Market Facebook page saying that the facility is closed to the public and arena users until further notice.

President Brent Foster says no people or animals were injured in the incident and that the site around the arena has been secured.

He says about two-thirds of the roof fell in between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m. but that the walls are still standing.

Foster believes the collapse was due to heavy snow on top of the sloped roof.

“It appeared to be a snow load factor but again, there’s a decent pitch on the building so a bit surprised about that,” he said.

The facility was built around 1985 and hosts a number of rodeos, fairs and local events annually.

“It’s our indoor riding arena for horses and for other events,” said Foster. “It is going to be a bit of a blow to the organization.”

Bill Jackson, 79, has lived in the area since he was a child and has volunteered for decades at the race track.

“It’s a vital part of the community. It’s been there since 1905 and I’ve been involved since I was about ten years old,” he said. “It’s probably the best market in western Canada for outdoor farmers’ market and the arena is used for other activities besides the market. We have a huge Christmas market with 270, 280 vendors, over four days and so we need that arena to help carry on our activities.”

The arena is a pole structure and Jackson thinks it will cost about $1.5 million to rebuild it.

Foster says closing the facility will heavily impact the community.

“We’re heading into our busy season so it’s going to be a bit of a struggle,” he said. “It’s a tight-knit community of a lot of volunteers so it's going to be a bit of a set-back.”

“Coming up we've got a horse show as well as a dog show that was all booked in the arena so all of that has now got to be relocated and try to figure out where we’re going to continue to have our kids finish out their 4-H year,” said Carolyn Morrison, General Leader, Millarville Mutts & Mustangs. “The other Ag societies have been really good, the High River Ag Society has reached out to us, the Okotoks Ag Society has been in contact, there’s other barns in the area that we’ve contacted and they’ve all been really good. Everybody wants to help, they’re saying ‘what do you need, sit down with us and tell us what you need’ and so I have no doubt that we’ll be able to put together some really good options for the kids."

Officials will take a look at the structure on Tuesday and say that the hall and other buildings at the site are still open.