Tonawanda, NY (WBEN) - Area golfers remain frustrated without a refuge from winter for their pastime as damage to the Wehrle Golf Dome and Paddock Golf Dome was extensive as a result of the December blizzard.
So, when will the domes will reopen?
Josh Edholm at the Grill at the Dome says the Wehrle dome is still down, after a 50 foot tear was discovered after the storm. "I know options are being explored as far as what to do next, but we haven't received any real update yet as to where that heads," says Edholm.
Edholm reminds golfers the grill itself remains open, and that has taken a hit from the storm as well. "Having (the) last two seasons with COVID, we were really looking forward to getting back to 'normal' this year, and then obviously, this has thrown a bit of a wrench at us," explains Edholm.
Over at the Paddock Golf Dome in the Town of Tonawanda, Supervisor Joe Emminger tells WBEN he's still evaluating all options and what the town needs to do to get it up as soon as possible.
Emminger says the dome was able to withstand the winds of the storm, but a blower malfunctioned, leading to the dome's deflation. "The blowers got some kind of condensation, we believe, into the area and shorted out some wires," explains Emminger. He says he's optimistic by at least the end of this week, he will have a direction to go in be able to get the dome up sooner rather than later.
Emminger says the good news is the damage can be repaired. "The question that we're dealing with is, will we be able to do it on site, which will obviously make the the timeframe much quicker, or will we have to send it out to be repaired? We're hoping that we'll be able to do it on site, which will get the dome up, hopefully, in the near term," says Emminger.
There's no set timetable on when the domes will be repaired and reopened.
