Wind peeled back gym roof

Twenty-five years ago this week, the roof was literally blown of for Fort Recovery’s middle school gym.

The April 22, 1996, edition of The Commercial Review featured coverage of the continued clean-up efforts after high winds over the weekend peeled the roof off of the middle school gym at Fort Recovery High School. The storm included a report of a possible touchdown of a tornado in the Dunkirk area, and hundreds of area residents were left without power.

The damage to the roof occurred about 1:30 a.m. April 20. While some debris fell to the ground, about half of the Fort Recovery gym roof was wrapped around a chimney.

“It just basically peeled it right off,” said Fort Recovery High School principal Ed Snyder.

Pieces of yellow insulation and bricks were strewn around the building. In addition to the roof damage, the school’s satellite dish was knocked over and several windows were broken.

Despite the damage, Fort Recovery High School was able to hold classes April 22.

Fort Recovery School Board held an emergency session April 20 in order to get repairs moving as fast as possible. Materials were set to be ordered April 22.

Pat Niekamp, superintendent of Fort Recovery Local Schools, explained that the gym remained mostly protected because an old roof was still in place below the portion that was torn off. However, he added “a lot of water was running in.”

Niekamp estimated the cost of the repairs to be between $50,000 and $60,000.