The blizzard of 2003 severly damaged a “long-term temporary” wall of the Ritchie Center.

As the gymnastics team prepared for their meet on March 22, the heat from the arena melted the bottom of the 300-feet-by-75-foot snow slab that had accumulated on the roof, causing the slab to slide down the roof onto the temporary wall, said Warren Smith, director of News and Media Relations for the university.

Smith said the wall was designed to hold 400 pounds of snow per linear foot.

Engineers estimate that the wall was supporting over 2,000 pounds per linear foot of snow, so naturally, something had to give.

Smith stressed that every other wall and every roof in the Ritchie Center is now safe and structurally sound and that there was no damage to any of the load-bearing walls and supports.

The snow also caused severe damage to the trees on campus. Fifty-five trees need to be removed and replaced while 26 need to have their tops removed. An additional 191 trees need trimming.

Smith had no monetary figure available about the damage to the campus. He said that the campus’ insurance company will pay for the damages as long as only one contractor is used.