Refunds to be given after fans relocated due to snow on roof at Rider game

Football fans who've been fuming since being forced to move from their seats at Regina's last CFL game may now be cooling off. They will be reimbursed for their tickets.

That's according to Roughriders spokesperson Ryan Pollock, who sent the information to CBC in an email Monday. Around 800 seats at Mosaic Stadium were cordoned off Saturday night — and fans relocated elsewhere as a precaution — because snow hanging off stadium's roof edge was directly over the area.

"In the coming days those that were relocated will have an automatic reimbursement put on their ticket account," he wrote.

• Overhanging snow at Regina's Mosaic Stadium closes 800 seats

However, it is still unclear exactly how many reimbursements the club will be issuing, as it's unlikely that everyone who had a ticket was in attendance. The club has not responded to a request for information to that effect.

Event volunteers tried to communicate to ticket holders that they were eligible for refunds as they were being relocated, Pollock added, but he acknowledged some may not have gotten the message on-site.

Frustration and thanks

The overhead hazard posed by the hanging snow and the subsequent relocations raised the ire of some fans who took to social media to air their frustrations.

Others appeared less bothered, posting about being thankful venue staff had worked to ensure their safety.

According to the city's mayor, Michael Fougere, the conditions leading up to the hanging snow were not something that had been predicted.

'An extraordinary circumstance'

"This is — I would view — an extraordinary circumstance that would not have been anticipated," he told reporters Monday.

"But staff acted quickly and removed those people. There's been refunds for those seats, of course, but safety is first and we'll make sure that doesn't happen again."

Just what might be done to prevent similar occurrences in the future, the mayor didn't say.

Mark Allan is the president of Regina Exhibition Association Ltd., which is ultimately in charge of operations at the stadium. He said the issue would have to be brought up with the building's designers, noting that they'd be going "back to the drawing board" to determine how to avoid a similar situation.

"Is there something in the design, or is there something in operations, or was that just a really peculiar, one-off thing?" he asked.

"Those are things we just don't know today."

The Roughriders are not scheduled to make another home appearance this season.

However, two outdoor hockey games are scheduled to be played at Mosaic Stadium over the upcoming Family Day weekend in February.

Allan said the snow issue would be looked at before then.