Sprint Pavilion to get a new roof this winter

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) — Part of the Downtown Mall will be shutting down in November while the roof of the Sprint Pavilion is replaced.

Pedestrian access through the venue will be closed during construction, which is set to begin Nov. 1 and last through late March.

This means access to and from Water Street through the tunnel under Ninth Street will be closed off.

Pedestrians will need to use Water Street to the Transit Center or market Street to Seventh Street as alternate routes onto the mall.

The rest of the Downtown Mall, the ramp from the mall to the Belmont bridge and all streets around the venue will remain open in order to minimize the impact on people trying to get to City Hall, the downtown Visitors Center and all the businesses located on the east end of the mall.

The original roof was installed in 2005 and is nearing the end of its useful life.

Officials with the Sprint pavilion say they intend to recycle as much of the fabric as possible, with a majority being donated to a project to create portable off-grid washing facilities that will be deployed in refugee camps around the world.

The washing facilities will use solar energy, solar water heating, improved battery technology, engineered bamboo, modern greywater filtration applications to fertilize date palm or banana tree groves, charging stations and WiFi.

These facilities will help improve camp situations once water sources are hooked up by offering efficient sanitation under challenging circumstances that are found in displaced person or refugee camps around the world.

Weather permitting, the work on the Spring Pavilion is expected to finish up in March.

The new roof will be identical to the existing one but have a new fabric shell and acoustic treatment that are expected to last for the next 20 years.