Wednesday's deluge which dropped nearly two inches of rain on Ballarat has opened up more leaks in the Selkirk Stadium roof, just two days out from the opening of the King's Birthday Basketball Tournament, forcing organisers to enact a contingency plan if more rain falls.
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Contractors were again at the stadium on Thursday, having identified the areas which need to be fixed in time for the weekend, however Basketball Ballarat has confirmed it has other venues on stand-by if they are required.
On the side of organisers is that fine weather is predicted in Ballarat on both Saturday and Sunday. However Monday's forecast is for a 60 per cent chance of 1-5mm, which could cause issues on finals day.
On Wednesday, The Courier visited the venue for an unrelated media announcement with City of Ballarat chief executive Evan King and mayor Des Hudson.
It was noticed at the time that, where there had previously been a puddle near the middle of the showcourt, was now spraying.
Basketball Ballarat chief executive Neville Ivey confirmed work was ongoing again at the site on Thursday.
"The contractors are here today, they are looking at new areas that don't have the drip tray to install those there, but I think it's fair to say some of the drip trays (recently installed) have failed as well," he said.
"Monday looks our worry which of course is finals day.
"All of our courts are being used on Monday. What we do have though, which is not only for Monday, but if the weather changes over the weekend, we have a number of courts on stand-by, single court facilities at schools, Grammar has one and is in close proximity, Woodmans Hill has two courts as well.
"If worst comes to worst and we've lost three or four courts, we do have those in case. Logistically though it is difficult as it's a lot of communication with teams, managers, referees, but its better than an alternative than to cancel.
"If we didn't have these contingencies in place, there is a chance we might have had to cancel some of the lower division finals, which no-one wants to see."
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Regardless of how his weekend's event is completed, there must be doubt as to whether the showcourt will be available to host NBL1 games the following week, with matches scheduled for both June 17 and 18.
Ivey said a decision would need to be taken in coming days over the NBL1 South games for the remainder of the season.
"It's the uncertainty which is the problem," Ivey said.
"A number of weeks ago we had about 2mm and on that day we had an NBL1 game scheduled and we were just lucky it didn't continue to rain, but on that occasion it wasn't a lot of rain, so it's not necessarily volume related, it's more directional and we can't risk that.
"Unless all parties, the contractors, council can give us firm assurities around the integrity, we'd have to move them.
A decision on those games is expected to be made over the weekend, with a number of factors including, firstly and most importantly, safety of players and spectators, but also sponsor commitments and broadcast requirements among other factors to be discussed.
"There is a possibility that the Minerdome could accommodate all four scheduled matches across that weekend.
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