No injuries as Prairie Dome tears, partially deflates

Five people were evacuated safely Tuesday night after a tear in the side of the Prairie Dome at Eden Prairie High School resulted in a partial deflation of the structure.

The tear, nearly 30 feet long at the base of the east side of the dome, occurred sometime between 5 and 6 p.m., according to school district employees at the dome. Heated air blown into the fabric structure is what keeps it inflated. A cause was not yet apparent, according to the school employees.

Workers were on-site shortly after 7 p.m. and positioned a plywood sheet between the torn fabric and the ground to keep the tear from widening to give crews time to remove lighting structures, soccer goals and other equipment that might tear other parts of the fabric roof as it is deflated for repairs, according to Joe Perkl, the high school’s director of student activities, who was on-site supervising the process.

At 8 p.m. the dome was partially deflated but still standing. After equipment is removed, the dome will be taken down for repairs. How long those repairs might take is unknown, Perkl said.

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The dome is used by high school teams and community sports organizations for practices and games for multiple sports. Depending on how long repairs take, the incident could affect dozens of existing space reservations, Perkl said.

In a statement released at about 6:45 p.m. Dirk Tedmon, the district’s executive director of marketing and communications, said: “The dome partially deflated and we are working with our partners at Yeadon Domes on getting it fixed and operational. Right now it is being monitored by our facilities staff to keep people safe and away from the structure. I’ve heard of no injuries or safety concerns.”

According to Tedmon, five adults from a soccer club were in the dome at the time the incident occurred. “Staff noticed the issue and cleared out the dome and secured it. We will have to deflate the dome to repair it and EPHS staff are being allocated to help clear out appropriate infrastructure to prevent further damage to the dome or systems housed within the dome.”

The Prairie Dome is located north of the high school and is inflated each fall on the high school’s turf field B. It covers a 110-by-55 yard turf surface and includes soccer goals and two batting cages for softball and baseball. It is typically maintained at a temperature between 50 and 60 degrees, according to district documents.