By On Jan. 17, Long Beach State Athletics announced that an exterior suspended ceiling fell on the south side of the Walter Pyramid the day before.
The Pyramid’s main structure is said to not have been impacted. The ceiling panels that tumbled down were cosmetic and not structural, and are currently being inspected and reinforced out of caution.
Due to the facility work currently in progress, the Pyramid has restricted access and limited occupancy.
In an email exchange with Jeffrey Cook, chief communications officer at Long Beach State, he said that the cause of the ceiling falling may never be definitively known, but the incident is still being assessed. Cook said it is likely that there was more than one contributing factor.
A number of games scheduled at the Pyramid had been relocated for the time being. Long Beach State Athletics announced that the following three games were moved to the Goldmine:
- Women’s Basketball vs. California State University Northridge on Jan. 23.
- Men’s Volleyball vs. Concordia University Irvine on Jan. 24.
- Women’s Basketball vs. California Polytechnic State University on Jan. 25.
Long Beach District 4 Councilman Daryl Supernaw discussed the ongoing repairs to the Walter Pyramid in his weekly newsletter. The newsletter said repairs were scheduled for Jan. 25 and 26 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
There is a possibility the crew at the site may work the entire weekend if necessary, according to Supernaw’s newsletter.
This is not the first time the structural integrity of the Pyramid has run into issues.
The Current reported leaks in the structure in 2019. Four years later, in 2023, the Current reported on other leaks that would have caused possible relocations of games. The Current has also reported on the state of the Pyramid in its 30th anniversary in 2024, stating there were no plans for major refurbishments noted for the Pyramid at the time.
Cook said the exact date for games to return to the Pyramid is still unknown. The hope is that the time frame to repair the Pyramid will be a matter of a week or two versus months.
As of now, assessments to the Pyramid are still being conducted. Cook said Beach Building Services is working with an outside contractor to remove ceilings that are similarly designed on the exterior of the Pyramid.
