OSHKOSH, Wis. (NBC 26) — Oshkosh Arena has sat quiet since last July 26 because of concerns over the building's fire safety, but City of Oshkosh officials say the arena is making progress toward fixing those issues and reopening.
Oshkosh Fire Chief Mike Stanley explains the arena was overdue for several fire safety inspections and says its fire alarms weren't properly set up.
“One of my big concerns was the fire alarm system wasn’t being monitored," he said, "so if there was a fire [and] the fire alarm system went off, that [wouldn't] notify anybody.”
Since being shut down, Stanley says the arena has taken steps to address the violations, such as getting inspections on sprinkler and fire systems. He says the building will be reopened as soon as the violations are fixed, which he hopes could happen shortly.
“Hopefully in the very near future…" he said, "[As] soon as the violations are all corrected, we’ll release the property right back to the owner.”
Beyond the fire code violations, City Manager Mark Rohloff says the arena has some financial issues that will need to be resolved.
“There were delinquencies in other fees that are not a condition of their occupancy permit but they do have some unpaid bills from the prior events season.”
Rohloff explains that among those bills, the arena owes the city for police and ambulance services at events like Wisconsin Herd home games, but says that money does not need to be paid before the stadium reopens. He says he's confident the arena will bounce back from its financial issues though.
“This hardly means anything about the end of the arena," said Rohloff "I think the arena’s gonna continue to be a great asset to our community. They have some financial issues that they have to work through, but I’m confident that they’ll be able to work through those and get themselves reset for the long run.”
NBC 26 reached out to multiple members of Oshkosh Arena Management for comment but has not received any reply.
