MISSOULA — The Grizzly Indoor Practice Facility, also known as the dome or bubble, has been down on the University of Montana campus for several days.
"The Grizzly Indoor Practice Facility was having a hard time holding its air," Dave Kuntz, UM's Vice President of Marketing and Communications, said.
MTN first reached out to Kuntz on Friday after questions arose about Thursday night's thunderstorm possibly causing the dome to deflate. However, Kuntz said a manufacturing issue may have caused the problem instead.
“We came to the conclusion that it wasn't the storm that caused that issue and we need some further evaluation in partnership with the manufacturer," he said.
Since the dome was not manufactured locally, it could take time to find the root cause.
“We have been in touch with the manufacturers who are going to be out here on site too to help provide their expertise on next steps going forward," Kuntz added.
Since the bubble was built in 2024, Kuntz said there have been other issues that have required bringing the dome down for assessment.
UM officials hope the latest issues are resolved quickly to get the facility, worth over 10 million dollars, back up and running as soon as possible.
With sports ramping up in early August, some teams will use Dornblaser Field south of campus for training.
