Horsemen in the Summerside, PEI area will have longer to wait for the new barns to be ready after heavy winds caused one of the structures to collapse

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On Wednesday evening at around 6:30 p.m., just after the crew of roughly 20 men finished for the day, winds gusts of close to 90 kilometres per hour came through the area and according to SC director George Riley, the skeleton of the barn instantly toppled.

"That's the history of PEI, it seems," Riley told Trot Insider. "The winds seem to pick up just before sunset."

Riley was quick to point out the crew had fortunately finished work for the day and no one was hurt.

"They were getting along pretty well. About 70 per cent of the rafters were complete and it was framed up on both ends. The crew that was working on that barn has now moved on to work on the ship-in barn," noted Riley. "The barn was insured, and an adjustor was due on scene today."

On a positive note, Riley commented that the construction was ahead of schedule and the work on the grandstand is still progressing along very well.

"The target was the later part of May to have everything completed, but now that date looks to be around the start of July."