Arena scrambles to save the ice
Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter
The Family Centre has been having a rough start to the week after the refrigeration plant went down, causing them to cancel games Sunday afternoon, Sunday evening and the Half Pint tournament on Monday, Feb. 21. As of Tuesday arena manager Kelly Barret said they don’t fully know what the situation is and they have cancelled ice time for Tuesday and Wednesday.
“This is my worst nightmare. The arena manager’s worst nightmare, for the plant to break down in the middle of the playoff season,” said Barrett.
Thanks to the help of Gleichen, they were able to move the half pint tournament to the Gleichen arena.
“Everybody has been really good that we can get a hold of, so we’re all working together to keep it going,” said Barrett.
Arena staff have had to keep the doors to the arena open and the lights off to keep the building cool and control the temperature of the ice pads. Barrett said they normally sit at 19 degrees and 21 degrees, but on Tuesday morning the ice was sitting at 24 degrees and 26 degrees.
“Thank goodness we have cold weather,” said Barrett, who couldn’t believe she was happy for the cold.
This is the first time it has happened. Barrett said there have been situations where they have almost lost it, but never this bad. Staff noticed there was a problem when the temperatures of the arena pads started to climb up quickly and the compressors weren’t working. If the ice starts melting they would have to remove the old ice, which would take about a day per arena.
“If we were to work around the clock 24 hours, and everything was going up good, we could probably have at least one ice surface ready within two to three days,” said Barrett.
“We were lucky we only had to cancel one game and move the tournament with this,” said Jody Schneider, with Strathmore Minor Hockey, about Sunday’s SMH games.
“If it wasn’t for Gleichen the tournament would have been cancelled, we really appreciate the Gleichen arena for taking on the Half Pint tournament.”
While most teams practice during the week, that time will now be used for make up games from the weekend. If the refrigeration unit isn’t fixed by the weekend it will affect various clubs and organizations who use the ice.